ii!ir!i"i'""-^ 


HinlMfci  1 


MERCER  GREEN  JOmm^ 


imm 


m 

ill  IN; 

PATRIOTISM    AND    RADICALISM 

ADDRESSES  AND  LETTERS 


BY 


MERCER  GREEN  JOHNSTON 

Author  of  "Plain  American  Talks  in  the  Philippines." 


BOSTON 

SHERMAN,  FRENCH  &   COMPANY 

1917 


copymoht,  191t 
Sherman,  French  6^  Company 


TO 

MY  WIFE 

KATHERINE  AUBREY 

A  PERFECT   COMRADE   IN 
QUIET  HOURS  AND  STORMY 


38222' 


A  NATIONAL  CONFESSION 

The  Power  behind  the  Wind, 
The  Power  beneath  the  Wave: 

We  need  them  both 

In  very  truth 
Our  Nation  dear  to  save. 

The  Power  behind  the  Sun, 
The  Power  beneath  the  Sod : 

We  need  them  both 

I  take  my  oath 
Our  task  to  do  for  God. 

The  Power  behind  the  Brawn, 
The  Power  within  the  Brain: 

We  need  them  both  — 

All  work,  no  sloth ! 
To  do  our  duty  plain. 

The  Power  above  the  Sky, 
The  Power  beneath  the  Soul: 

We  need  them  both, 

O  God  of  Truth, 
To  cross  our  cross-marked  goal. 

O  Power  that  wrought  in  Christ, 
O  Light  that  lit  the  grave  — 
Lord  God  Most  High  — 
Lord  God  Most  Nigh  — 
We  need  thee,  Lord, 
Speak  Thou  the  Word, 
Our  Nation's  soul  to  save! 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I  Patriotism  and   Radicalism    ....        3 

II  Washington  the   Statesman       .      .      .31 

III  Washington,   First  in   the   Hearts  of 

His   Countrymen ^7 

IV  Paxomaniacs:  or  Pacifists  Run  Mad     .      47 

V  First  Impressions  of  Nietzsche        .      .      77 

VI  The  University  and  the  Universe  .      .    123 

VII  Letters  to  Radicals 143 

VIII  The  American  Spirit 173 

IX  Crucified  Belgium 1^7 


I 

PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

A  speech  delivered  in  the  Academy  of  Music, 
Baltimore,  before  the  Open  Forum,  Sunday,  April 
1st,  1917,  on  the  day  before  President  Wilson  de- 
livered his  War  Message, 


PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

My  American  Fellow-Citizens: 

This  is  a  supreme  moment  of  history,  universal, 
national,  personal.  It  would  hardly  be  possible 
to  exaggerate  its  solemnity.  For  you  and  for 
me,  and  for  our  Nation,  it  is  the  moment  of 
moments. 

There  is  a  time,  we  know  not  when, 
A  place,  we  know  not  where, 

That  marks  the  destiny  of  men, 
For  glory  or  despair. 

This  is  such  a  time  and  such  a  place.  "  Multi- 
tudes, multitudes  in  the  valley  of  decision :  for  the 
day  of  the  Lord  is  near  in  the  valley  of  decision." 
So  the  Voice  that  speaks  to  the  souls  of  men  and 
nations  is  crying,  crying,  crying,  in  trumpet  tones. 
The  ears  that  are  deaf  to  that  thrilling  insistent 
cry  are  indeed  dull  of  hearing.  The  heart  that  is 
not  stirred  by  it,  and  lifted  up  by  it  out  of  its 
littleness  and  sordid  meanness  and  bodily  fear  into 
an  atmosphere  of  greatness,  nobility,  and  valor, 
in  which  it  breathes  freely  and  joyously,  is  a  dead 
heart  (it  seems  to  me),  or  else  a  heart  that  has 
undergone  some  sad  change  that  makes  it  a 
stranger  to  the  "  hopes  that  make  us  men."  In 
3 


4        PATRIOIISM  AND  RADICALISM 

my  own  heart  this  Voice  sets  the  wild  echoes 
flying ;  silences  that  which  is  of  the  earth  earthy ; 
summons  me  to  self-sacrifice;  makes  my  assurance 
doubly  sure 

"  That  men  may  rise  on  stepping-stones 
Of  their  dead  selves  to  higher  things." 

Ah,  it  makes  the  immortal  spirit  within  me  stand 
on  tiptoe  and  salute  as  its  fellow  across  the  Ra- 
vine of  Death  our  young  American  poet,  Alan 
Seeger,  who  wrote  to  his  mother  from  that  red  field 
of  honor  in  Europe  in  which  all  of  him  that  could 
die  now  rests :  "  Death  is  nothing  terrible  after 
all.  It  may  mean  something  even  more  wonderful 
than  life.  It  cannot  mean  anything  worse  to  the 
good  soldier. 

"  I  have  a  rendezvous  to  keep  with  Death 
On  some  scarred  slope  of  battle  hill  .   .  . 
And  I  to  my  pledged  word  am  true, 
I  shall  not  fail  that  rendezvous." 

This  is  indeed  a  supreme  moment  in  the  life  of 
every  American.  The  hour  of  our  Nation  has 
come.  Even  now  the  clock  is  striking  the  hour. 
It  is  the  knell  that  summons  our  Country  to  heaven 
or  to  hell.  Our  individual  responsibility  for  help- 
ing America  make  the  answer  that  alone  can  save 
her  soul  is  so  great  that  we  must,  at  peril  of  our 
own  souls,  shake  ourselves  free  from  every  hin- 
drance and  do  our  uttermost  with  heart  and  mind 
and  spirit  and  body  to  enable  her  to  make  the 


PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM        6 

answer  for  which  the  God  of  Nations  is  waiting, — 
the  answer  for  which  the  God  of  Nations  has  been 
kept  waiting  overlong. 

The  afternoon  of  the  day  I  was  asked  to  make 
this  address,  I  climbed  for  the  first  time  the  two 
hundred  and  forty  steps  of  the  noble  monument 
that  now  for  nearly  a  century  has  given  distinc- 
tion to  this  historic  city,  and  stood  at  the  feet  of 
the  heroic  figure  of  Washington.  From  that 
commanding  height  I  saw,  as  it  were,  not  only  all 
Baltimore,  but  "  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world, 
and  the  glory  of  them."  If  Satan  was  there  to 
tempt  me  with  worldly  ambition  for  myself  or  my 
Country,  he  found  nothing  in  me,  and  kept  dis- 
creetly in  the  background.  But  I  had  a  strong 
feeling  that  the  spirit  of  Washington  was  there, 
and  I  stood  beneath  the  outstretched  hand  of  the 
marble  statue  of  the  Father  of  our  Country,  try- 
ing to  contemplate  the  life  of  the  whole  world  from 
the  highest  and  most  selfless  point  of  view.  I 
praj'ed  to  the  God  of  our  Fathers  to  help  me  speak 
upon  this  occasion  in  a  manner  worthy  of  the 
presence  of  this  great  servant  of  His  who  has 
found  greater  favor  in  the  eyes  of  mankind  than 
any  mortal  that  ever  governed  a  great  state. 

So,  as  I  speak  to-day,  forgive  me  if  I  am  some- 
what more  conscious  of  the  presence  of  the  spirit 
of  Washington  than  of  your  presence.  It  pleases 
and  helps  me  to  think  that  he  honors  us  with  his 
presence  this  afternoon.  That  he  is  the  unseen 
guest   of  honor  upon   this   stage.     And   that  he 


6        PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

comes  attended  by  those  valiant  companions  in 
arms  and  statecraft  who  helped  him  to  bring 
down  America  out  of  heaven  on  to  earth  —  and 
America  that  God  had  prepared  as  a  bride  adorned 
for  her  husband  and  held  aloft  until  He  found 
men  with  vision  and  virtue  and  valor  enough  to  be 
entrusted  with  her. 

If  the  stage  is  not  too  crowded  I  should  like 
to  admit  another  great  spirit  wliose  fame  has  gone 
out  into  all  the  world.  The  earthly  tenement  of 
this  great  soul  was  made, —  so  Lowell  tells  us, 
who  calls  him  "  our  Martyr-Chief "  and  even 
"  The  first  American," —  out  of  "  the  sweet  clay 
from  the  breast  of  the  unexhausted  West."  That 
eartlily  tenement,  fifty-two  years  ago,  in  troublous 
times  like  these,  in  a  building  like  this,  in  a  sister 
city,  was  shattered  by  the  foul  deed  of  a  fanatic. 
Even  so,  such  was  his  largeness  of  heart,  I  make 
no  doubt  the  spirit  of  the  Savior  of  this  Nation  is 
as  ready  as  the  spirit  of  the  Founder  of  this  Na- 
tion, to  grace  with  his  presence  every  occasion 
where  Americans  take  thought  for  America.  I 
have  a  feeling  that  great  Lincoln's  spirit  comes 
down  from  one  of  the  boxes  on  the  left  to  take  his 
place  among  his  peers  on  the  stage. 

I  trust  that  the  presence  of  this  goodly  com- 
pany of  American  patriots  with  which  my  warm 
imagination  has  filled  this  stage  will  be  an  embar- 
rassment to  no  person  in  this  theatre.  Certainly 
the  presence  of  those  who  have  made  and  pre- 
served us  a  nation  will  be  a  cause  of  no  embarrass- 


PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM        7 

ment  to  any  one  who  has  a  God's  right  to  call 
himself  an  American  citizen.  If  apologies  or  ex- 
planations are  in  order,  they  will  have  to  come 
from  the  house.  None  will  be  forthcoming  from 
the  stage.  But  I  hope  there  is  absolutely  no 
need  of  apologies  or  explanations.  I  hope  there 
is  good  ground  for  believing  that  if  some  such 
resolution  as  this  were  proposed  — "  Resolved,  we 
join  no  part}',  we  countenance  no  cause,  that  does 
not  honor  the  American  flag,  in  public  and  in  pri- 
vate, above  all  other  flags,  and  keep  step  to  the 
music  of  the  Union  " —  the  resolution  would  be 
carried  by  an  overwhelming  majority,  if  not  with 
entire  unanimity. —  Even  among  the  Twelve  Apos- 
tles and  Washington's  Generals  unanimity  was  not 
always  attainable. 

A  moment  ago  I  was  speaking  of  the  splendid 
column  that  stands  in  this  city  as  a  memorial  of 
Washington.  As  I  speak  I  can  see  in  my  mind's 
eye  that  yet  loftier  marble  shaft  that  stands  on 
the  bank  of  the  Potomac  in  his  honor.  Once  I 
walked  down  it  all  the  way  reading  the  testimonies 
to  his  greatness  and  nobility  graven  in  marble  that 
have  come  from  almost  all  lands  under  the  sun. 
If  you  are  ever  tempted  to  discount  the  character 
or  the  achievements  of  Washington,  before  3'ou 
reach  a  final  conclusion,  you  ought  to  walk  up  or 
down  that  monument  and  read  the  evidence  in  the 
case  of  Washington  against  the  World.  It  is 
piled  up  there  in  imperishable  marble  five  hundred 
feet  high.     The  sight  of  it  makes  one  slow  to  join 


8        PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

issue  with  Webster  when  he  says :  "  America  has 
furnished  to  the  world  the  character  of  Washing- 
ton !  And  if  our  American  institutions  had  done 
14  nothing  else,  that  alone  would  have  entitled  them 
to  the  respect  of  mankind."  It  is  true  of  Wash- 
ington in  a  greater  degree  than  of  any  other 
statesman  who  has  fought  the  battles  of  human 
liberty  that  "  the  world  is  gone  after  him." 
Wherever  on  this  earth  the  cause  of  human  liberty 
is  intelligently  loved,  there  the  name  of  Washing- 
ton is  sincerely  revered. 

There  is  yet  another  patriotic  American  land- 
mark that  rises  before  me  in  imagination  as  I 
speak.  That  is  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument,  a 
mighty  mile-post  on  the  road  of  liberty  and  jus- 
tice, of  world-wide  and  everlasting  significance. 
Deserving  as  it  is  of  a  niche  in  the  memory  of 
every  liberty-loving  soul  by  reason  of  the  heroic 
struggle  it  commemorates,  it  is  still  more  memor- 
able by  reason  of  the  great  orations  delivered  by 
Daniel  Webster  at  the  laying  of  its  corner-stone 
in  1825  and  upon  the  completion  of  the  monument 
in  1843.  I  have  already  made  a  brief  quotation 
from  the  latter  of  these.  I  could  wish  that  you 
took  your  American  citizenship  with  sufficient  seri- 
ousness to  read  them  both  through  from  beginning 
to  end  at  this  time.  Let  me  hope  that  you  will 
do  so.  But  I  want  you  to  hear  further  from  the 
second  of  these  great  republican  documents  this 
afternoon. 

"  And  even  if  civilization  should  be  subverted," 


PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM        9 

declares  Webster,  "  and  the  truths  of  the  Christian 
religion  obscured  by  a  new  deluge  of  barbarism, 
the  memory  of  Bunker  Hill  and  the  American  Rev- 
olution will  still  be  elements  and  parts  of  the 
knowledge  which  shall  be  possessed  by  the  last 
man  to  whom  the  light  of  civilization  and  Chris- 
tianity shall  be  extended." 

Again  —  and  here  he  speaks  to  the  very  times 
in  which  we  are  living :  "  Woe  betide  the  man  who 
brings  to  this  day's  worship  feeling  less  than 
wholly  American!  Woe  betide  the  man  who 
stands  here  with  the  fires  of  local  resentments 
burning,  or  the  purpose  of  fomenting  local  jeal- 
ousies and  the  strifes  of  local  interests  festering 
and  rankling  in  his  heart!  Union,  established  in 
justice,  in  patriotism,  and  the  most  plain  and  ob- 
vious common  interest, —  union,  founded  on  the 
same  love  of  liberty,  cemented  by  blood  shed  in 
the  same  common  cause, —  union  has  been  the 
source  of  all  our  glory  and  greatness  thus  far, 
and  is  the  ground  of  all  our  highest  hopes.  This 
column  stands  on  Union.  I  know  not  that  it 
might  not  keep  its  position,  if  the  American  Union, 
in  the  mad  conflict  of  human  passions,  and  in  the 
strife  of  parties  and  factions  should  be  broken  up 
and  destroyed.  I  know  not  that  it  would  totter 
and  fall  to  the  earth,  and  mingle  its  fragments 
with  the  fragments  of  Liberty  and  the  Constitu- 
tion, when  State  should  be  separated  from  State, 
and  function  and  dismemberment  obliterate  forever 
all  the  hopes  of  the  founders  of  our  republic,  and 


10      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

the  great  inheritance  of  their  children.  It  might 
stand.  But  who,  from  beneath  the  weight  of  mor- 
tification and  shame  that  would  oppress  him,  could 
look  up  to  behold  it?  Whose  eyeballs  would  not 
be  seared  by  such  a  spectacle.''  For  my  part, 
should  I  live  to  such  a  time,  I  shall  avert  my  eyes 
from  it  forever." 

Again :  "  If  there  was  nothing  of  value  in  the 
principles  of  the  American  Revolution,  then  there 
is  nothing  valuable  in  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill 
and  its  consequences.  But  if  the  Revolution  was 
an  era  in  the  history  of  man  favorable  to  human 
happiness,  if  it  was  an  event  which  marked  the 
progress  of  man  all  over  the  world  from  despotism 
to  liberty,  then  this  monument  is  not  raised  \nth- 
out  cause.  Then  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  is  not 
an  event  undeserving  celebrations,  commemora- 
tions, and  rejoicings,  now  and  in  all  coming 
times." 

Finally,  Webster  speaks  of  "  our  agony  of 
glory,  the  war  of  Independence,"  and  brings  his 
oration  to  a  close  with  this  passage  that  ought  to 
find  cordial  welcome  in  every  American  heart: 
*'  We  have  indulged  in  gratifying  recollections  of 
the  past,  in  the  prosperity  and  pleasures  of  the 
present,  and  in  high  hopes  for  the  future.  But 
let  us  remember  that  we  have  duties  and  obliga- 
tions to  perform,  corresponding  to  the  blessings 
which  we  enjoy.  Let  us  remember  the  trust,  the 
sacred  trust,  attaching  to  the  rich  inheritance 
which  we  have  received  from  our  fathers.     Let  us 


PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM      11 

feel  our  personal  responsibility,  to  the  full  extent 
of  our  power  and  influence,  for  the  preservation 
of  the  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 
And  let  us  remember  that  it  is  only  religion,  and 
morals,  and  knowledge,  that  can  make  men  respect- 
able and  happy,  under  any  form  of  government. 
Let  us  hold  fast  the  great  truth,  that  communities 
are  responsible,  as  well  as  individuals ;  that  no  gov- 
ernment is  respectable  which  is  not  just;  that 
without  unspotted  purity  of  public  faith,  without 
sacred  public  principle,  fidelity,  and  honor,  no 
mere  forms  of  government,  no  machinery  of  laws, 
can  give  dignity  to  political  society.  In  our  day 
and  generation  let  us  seek  to  raise  and  improve  the 
moral  sentiment,  so  that  we  may  look,  not  for  a 
degraded,  but  for  an  elevated  and  improved  fu- 
ture. And  when  both  we  and  our  children  shall 
have  been  consigned  to  the  house  appointed  for  all 
living,  may  love  of  country  and  pride  of  country 
glow  with  equal  fervor  among  those  to  whom  our 
names  and  our  blood  shall  have  descended !  And 
then,  when  honored  and  decrepit  age  shall  lean 
against  the  base  of  this  monument,  and  troops  of 
ingenuous  youth  shall  be  gathered  round  it,  and 
when  the  one  shall  speak  to  the  other  of  its  objects, 
the  purposes  of  its  construction,  and  the  great  and 
glorious  events  with  which  it  is  connected,  there 
shall  rise  from  every  youthful  breast  the  ejacula- 
tion, "  Thank  God,  I  —  I  also  —  am  an  Amer- 
ican 


I  >' 


I  trust  there  is  no  one  within  sound  of  my  voice 


12      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

who  calls  himself  an  American  citizen,  and  avails 
himself  of  the  privileges  of  an  American  citizen, 
who  cannot,  in  such  an  hour  as  this,  make  that 
ejaculation  with  some  degree  of  fervor.  Born  as 
I  was  in  the  state  of  Mississippi  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Reconstruction  Period  that  followed  the 
close  of  the  Civil  War,  on  a  plantation  that  suf- 
fered from  both  armies  during  that  war,  and  in 
a  family  that  was  reduced  from  affluence  to 
penury  by  it,  there  was  a  time  in  my  life  when  the 
degree  of  fervor  with  which  I  acknowledged  my 
birth-right  as  an  American  was  not  very  great.  I 
remember  well  when  the  flag  of  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy under  which  my  father  fought  for  four 
years  was  dearer  to  me  than  the  Stars  and  Stripes, 
and  when  I  felt  caUed  upon  as  a  good  Southerner 
to  tackle  any  boy  of  my  size  or  thereabouts  who 
admitted  he  was  a  Yankee ;  but  I  thank  God  with 
all  my  heart  that,  all  unconsciously,  my  Ameri- 
canism grew  with  my  growth,  and  did  so  under 
southern  skies,  and  that  by  the  time  I  reached  my 
majority,  and  was  accorded  the  privilege  of  cast- 
ing an  American  ballot,  I  was  altogether  an  Amer- 
ican, and  able  and  ready  to  say  with  the  greatest 
degree  of  fervor,  and  out  of  a  heart  void  of  offense 
towards  God,  towards  humanity,  towards  my  own 
or  any  other  nation,  "  Thank  God,  I  —  I  also  — 

AM   AN    AMERICAN  !  " 

Now  when  I  call  myself  an  American,  I  mean  an 
American  who  could  not  only  pass  muster  in  the 
presence    of  Washington    and   Lincoln,   but   who 


PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM      13 

would  feel  no  sort  of  embarrassment  if  they  were 
to  turn  the  X-Ray  on  his  mind  and  heart. 

And  when  I  speak  of  Washington  and  Lincoln 
I  mean  the  whole  Washington  and  the  whole  Lin- 
coln. 

I  mean  the  Washington  who  was  "  first  in  war  " 
as  well  as  "  first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts 
of  his  countrymen."  I  mean  the  Washington  who, 
while  he  wisely  kept  the  country  out  of  war  while 
it  was  recovering  from  the  stress  and  strain  of 
the  Revolution,  and  finding  itself,  wrote  these 
words  in  his  Farewell  Address :  "  If  we  remain 
one  People,  under  an  efficient  government,  the  pe- 
riod is  not  far  off  when  we  may  defy  material  in- 
jury from  external  annoyance;  when  we  may  take 
such  an  attitude  as  will  cause  the  neutrality  we 
may  at  any  time  resolve  upon  to  be  scrupulously 
respected ;  when  belligerent  nations,  under  the  im- 
possibility of  making  acquisitions  upon  us,  will  not 
lightly  hazard  the  giving  us  provocation  when  we 
may  choose  peace  or  war,  as  our  interest,  guided 
by  our  justice,  may  counsel." 

I  mean  the  Lincoln  of  war  as  well  as  the  Lin- 
coln of  peace.     I  mean  the  Lincoln  who  was  ready 

"  To  front  a  lie  in  arms  and  not  to  yield." 

I  mean  the  Lincoln  who  on  the  battlefield  of  Gettys- 
burg in  1863  concluded  his  oration  with  these 
words :  "  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated 
to  the  great  task  remaining  before  us,  that  from 
these  honored  dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to 


14      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

that  cause  for  which  they  gave  the  last  full  meas- 
ure of  devotion ;  that  we  here  highly  resolve  that 
these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain ;  that  this 
nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  free- 
dom, and  that  the  government  of  the  people,  by 
the  people,  and  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish 
from  the  earth."  I  mean  the  Lincoln  who  turned 
a  deaf  ear  to  the  foolish,  sentimental  plea  for  a 
"  peace  without  victory,"  and  in  his  Second  In- 
augural address  in  1865,  after  expressing  surprise 
that  "  any  men  should  dare  to  ask  a  just  God's 
assistance  in  wringing  their  bread  from  the  sweat 
of  other  men's  faces,"  uttered  these  solemn  words : 
"  Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently  do  we  pray,  that 
this  mighty  scourge  of  war  may  speedily  pass 
away.  Yet  if  God  wills  that  it  continue  until  all 
the  wealth  piled  by  the  bondman's  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years  of  unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk, 
and  until  every  drop  of  blood  drawn  with  the  lash 
shall  be  paid  by  another  drawn  with  the  sword, 
as  was  said  three  thousand  years  ago,  so  still  it 
must  be  said,  that  the  judgments  of  the  Lord  are 
true  and  righteous  altogether." 

Having  said  this,  it  is  hardly  necessary  for  me 
to  attempt  to  characterize  the  peace-at-any-price 
propaganda  that  is  being  carried  on  in  our  Coun- 
try to-day  with  such  rampageous  zeal.  And  yet, 
perhaps,  it  would  be  uncandid  in  me  to  let  this 
occasion  pass  without  making  it  perfectly  clear 
where  I  stand  in  this  matter.     I  stand  four-square 


PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM      15 

against  it,  morning,  noon  and  night.  I  stand  four- 
square against  this  pacifist  brain-storm  of  1917  as 
I  stood  four-square  against  the  somewhat  similar 
pacifist  brain-storm  of  1898,  with  this  difference, 
that  my  convictions  are  now  nineteen  times 
stronger  than  they  were  nineteen  years  ago.  And 
I  have  by  no  means  kept  my  convictions  laid  up 
in  a  napkin  during  these  years.  I  have  carried 
them  with  me  openly  around  the  world,  and  into 
all  my  social,  political,  ethical  and  religious  studies 
and  activities.  I  believe  now  as  I  believed  then 
that  this  propaganda  (from  whicli  all  advocates 
of  reasonable  and  righteous  peace  now  hold  aloof) 
is  a  symptom  of  disease  and  not  of  health,  of  de- 
cadence and  not  of  progress,  of  darkness  and  not 
of  light,  of  death  and  not  of  life.  I  believe  now  as 
I  believed  then  that  the  outstanding  figures  in  this 
propaganda  are  blind  leaders  of  the  blind,  scorch- 
ing for  the  ditch.  I  believe  now  as  I  believed  then 
that  such  an  outburst  as  this  is  a  cause  not  only 
for  national  but  human  humiliation.  I  have  read 
an  enormous  mass  of  the  literature  pertaining  to 
this  subject,  and  the  more  of  it  I  read  the  more 
strongly  am  I  convinced  that  the  spokesmen  and 
spokes-women  of  the  propaganda  (whatever  they 
call  themselves.  Socialists,  Pacifists,  or  what  not) 
are  vying  with  one  another  in  "  foaming  out  their 
own  shame."  With  Ferdinand  Brunitiere,  editor 
of  the  Revue  des  deux  Mondes,  I  profoundly  be- 
lieve that  "  Pacifism  is  essentially  and  funda- 
mentally a  coward's  creed.      Cowardice  is  based  on 


16      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

the  profound  conviction  that  death  is  the  greatest 
of  evils  because  life  is  the  greatest  of  goods.  But 
for  the  honor  of  humanity  it  must  be  said  that 
neither  sentiment  is  (generally  believed  to  be)  true. 
No,  indeed ;  life  is  not  the  greatest  of  goods,  for  it 
is  the  fundamental  principle  of  morality  that  many 
things  ought  to  be  preferred  to  life;  and  death 
is  by  no  means  the  greatest  of  evils,  since  our  true 
manhood  is  undoubtedly  to  be  measured  by  the 
height  to  which  we  rise  above  the  fear  of  it." 

Yes,  Pacifism  is  essentially  and  fundamentally 
a  coward's  creed !  The  taint  of  fear  is  in  it !  The 
very  taste  of  it  makes  my  heart  sick ! 

I  will  not  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  every  pro- 
fessor of  this  coward's  creed  is  a  coward.  There 
may  be  exceptions  —  so  strange  are  the  workings 
of  the  human  mind.  But  at  the  best  the  plea  of 
the  pacifist  is  a  cowardly  plea.  It  feels  after 
and  finds  and  gives  countenance  to  the  coward. 
The  man  who  makes  it  may  not  himself  be  a  per- 
sonal coward,  but  he  stoops  to  conquer  the  coward 
and  enroll  him  under  his  banner  by  an  appeal  to 
his  cowardice  —  by  the  abuse  of  valor  and  the 
praise  of  poltroonery.  Brave  pacifists  there  may 
be,  but  if  seeing  is  believing,  cowards  take  to  the 
rose-water  of  pacifism  at  the  sound  of  the  trumpet 
as  ducks  take  to  water. 

It  is  my  deliberate  judgment  that  the  peace-at- 
any-price  propaganda  that  has  swept  through 
our  Country  like  an  epidemic  of  German  measles 
since  the  Kaiser  constituted  himself  vicegerent  of 


PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM      17 

Frightfulness  is  contrary  to  patriotism  as  it  has 
been  understood  in  America  from  the  days  of 
Washington  to  the  days  of  Lincoln,  and  as  it  is 
understood  now  by  the  normal  American  heart. 

Doubtless  there  are  those  to  whom  I  speak  (for 
this  hall  has  echoed  with  pacifist  pleas  of  late) 
who  will  not  only  admit  the  difference  to  which 
I  call  attention,  but  who  make  a  boast  of  it,  and 
who  have  little  room  in  their  hearts  for  the  old- 
fashioned  kind  of  patriotism  —  the  kind  of  pa- 
triotism that  made  and  that  has  preserved  us  a 
Nation. 

Possibly  there  are  those  present  who  have  scant 
regard,  much  less  love,  for  the  great  names  of 
American  history ;  who  would  not  willingly  give  a 
place  of  honor  on  this  stage  even  to  General  Wash- 
ington, unless  they  could  first  take  from  him  his 
sword  and  swear  him  to  blind  loyalty  to  their  par- 
ticular propaganda.  I  am  tempted  to  say  their 
pet,  petty  propaganda. 

Possibly  —  would  to  God  I  overshoot  the  mark  ! 
—  possibly,  there  are  those  here  who  have  little 
respect,  less  honor,  and  no  love  for  the  American 
Flag;  who  are  irritated  rather  than  inspired  by 
the  display  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes ;  whose  social 
and  political  hopes  fly  freer  under  some  other  sym- 
bol to  which  they  have  given  or  are  tempted  to 
give  their  highest  allegiance;  who  have  surren- 
dered to  the  fear  that  our  national  emblem  does 
not  to-day  (however  it  may  have  been  in  the  years 
gone  by)  stand  for  human  freedom,  but  rather  for 


18      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

industrial  bondage,  and  who,  because  they  have 
made  this  surrender,  are  ready  to  surrender,  if 
they  have  not  already'  surrendered,  the  Flag  to  a 
small  but  financially  powerful  group  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  whose  chief  place  of  business  is  Wall 
Street;  who,  in  a  word,  regard  the  Stars  and 
Stripes,  not  as  the  flag  of  democracy,  but  of  plu- 
tocracy,—  not  as  the  flag  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  of  America  but  of  Wall  Street. 

Granted  that  the  thoughts  of  some  of  those 
of  you  who  sit  before  me  have  been  or  are  running 
in  some  such  channels  as  I  have  intimated,  what 
shall  I  say  to  you,  my  fellow-citizens,  now  that 
our  Country  is  on  the  very  verge  of  war  with 
Germany? 

I  hope  you  know  me  well  enough  to  make  it  un- 
necessary for  me  to  protest  that  whatever  I  say 
I  shall  say  out  of  the  abundance  of  a  heart  that 
beats  in  profoundest  sympathy  with  those  whose 
watchword  to-day  is  Social  Justice. 

That  I  am  no  blind  defender  of  our  present  so- 
cial and  industrial  system  many  of  you  know  full 
well.  Here  in  Baltimore,  as  yonder  in  Newark, 
and  elsewhere,  I  have,  Avdthout  regard  to  conse- 
quences, expressed  my  conviction,  in  the  most  un- 
compromising language  I  could  command,  that 
this  system  is  unjust,  and  must  be  radically  re- 
formed or  revolutionized. 

There  is  no  one  into  whose  face  I  look  who  hates 
social  injustice  more  than  I  do.     I  mean  the  kind 


PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM      19 

of  social  injustice  that  flourishes  like  weeds  on 
American  soil,  and  nowhere  more  luxuriantly  than 
under  the  very  shadow  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty. 

There  is  no  one  into  whose  face  I  look  who,  when 
silence  was  golden,  has  more  fearlessly  denounced 
the  iniquities  and  injustices  of  our  mammonized 
society ;  and  no  one,  perhaps,  who  has  had  to  pay 
a  greater  price  for  the  privilege  of  free  speech 
along  these  tabooed  lines. 

It  ought  not  to  be  necessary  for  me  to  declare 
to  you  that  I  am  the  sworn  enemy  of  Mammon, 
and  the  uncompromising  opponent  of  every  man, 
every  group  of  men,  and  every  social  institution 
and  every  social  system,  that  does  him  honor  or 
serves  him  through  fear.  This  is  no  secret,  for  I 
have  publicly  slapped  his  face  and  challenged  him 
to  mortal  combat.  Between  Mammonism  and  my- 
self there  is  war  to  the  knife,  the  knife  to  the  hilt, 
the  hilt  to  the  hand.  What  I  call  Mammonism 
is  sometimes  called  Capitalism.  That  is  what  it 
is  generally  called  by  Socialists.  Well,  so  far  as 
Mammonism  and  Capitalism  are  one  and  the  same 
thing  —  and  if  they  are  not  inherently  one  and 
the  same  thing  they  are  in  danger  of  becoming  one 
and  the  same  thing,  and  even  now  are  devilishly 
alike  —  what  I  have  said  of  Mammon  and  Mam- 
monism holds  true  of  Capitalism.  I  am  for  Man- 
hood, not  Things.  I  am  against  whatever  is 
against  men.  If  Money  magnifies  itself  and  mini- 
mizes Manhood,  I  am  against  Money,  lock,  stock 


20      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

and  barrel.  I  am  for  Humanity  as  against  Prop- 
erty, morning,  noon  and  night,  breakfastless,  din- 
nerless  and  supperless  if  need  be. 

I  am  a  pretty  radical  sort  of  a  democrat.  I 
believe  not  only  in  ecclesiastical  and  political  but 
also  in  industrial  democracy,  and  if  there  are  any 
further  developments  of  democracy  while  I  am  on 
earth  I  fully  expect  to  believe  in  them.  My  de- 
mocracy runs  the  whole  gamut.  My  democracy 
is  bound  for  the  ultimate  goal  of  democracy,  and 
is  prepared  for  a  head-end  collision  if  it  is  neces- 
sary to  reach  its  goal.  I  am  not  afraid  of  the 
term  revolutionist  in  connection  with  my  democ- 
racy. I  hold  in  high  honor  the  American  rev- 
olutionists of  1775,  and  I  am  very  far  from  think- 
ing that  revolution  worked  its  perfect  work  on 
American  soil  during  what  we  call  the  Revolution- 
ary War.  I  am  very  far  from  thinking  that  after 
1783  there  was  no  further  need  for  the  wheels  of 
social  progress  to  turn,  to  revolve,  to  make  rev- 
olutions, beneath  the  flag  under  which  political 
freedom  was  won.  On  the  contrary,  I  believe 
there  is  absolutely  essential  social  progress  to  be 
made  here  in  America  which  will  be  made  only 
through  revolution.  The  revolution  may  be  sud- 
den, or  it  may  be  gradual,  but  it  will  be  none  the 
less  revolution.  Not  only  must  individual  Amer- 
icans be  born  again,  and  then  again  and  again,  if 
they  are  to  achieve  their  intellectual  and  spiritual 
possibilities.  This  Nation  must  be  bom  again, 
and  then  again  and  again,  if  it  is  to  achieve  its 


PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM      21 

democratic  possibilities.  And  Re-Birth  means 
Revolution. 

I  trust  that  if  there  has  been  any  disposition  on 
the  part  of  any  of  you  to  distrust  my  social  vision 
or  my  social  sympathies  the  cause  of  that  distrust 
has  now  been  largely  removed.  Certainly  it  is 
not  as  a  conservative  or  a  representative  of  con- 
servatism, and  just  as  certainly  it  is  not  as  a  capi- 
talist or  a  representative  of  Capitalism,  that  I 
make  my  plea  for  old-fashioned  patriotism  to  this 
audience  in  which  radical  social  sentiment  is  so 
dominant. 

I  know  that  many  of  you  to  whom  I  speak  are 
Socialists,  and  that  a  good  many  of  you  Socialists 
are  members  of  the  Socialist  Party.  I  recall  that 
the  last  time  I  spoke  from  this  platform  to  such  a 
meeting  as  this  I  said  in  answer  to  a  question  in- 
tended to  get  the  answer  it  got  that  I  thought 
Americans  who  believed  in  Socialism  ought  to 
join  the  Socialist  Party,  and  that  I  myself  ex- 
pected to  join  it.  But  I  have  not  joined  the  So- 
cialist Party.  And  I  am  making  no  move  to  join 
the  Socialist  Party.  And  I  would  not  advise  any 
American  to  join  the  Socialist  Party.  I  have  un- 
dergone a  change  of  heart  towards  the  Socialist 
Party.  And  I  will  tell  you  why.  Some  of  you 
may  not  like  the  reason,  but  times  like  these  call 
for  plain  and  fearless  speech.  I  do  not  think  so 
well  of  the  Socialist  Party  as  I  did  several  months 
ago  for  the  reason  that  I  know  a  great  deal  more 
about  the  dominant  element  in  the  Socialist  Party 


aa      PATRIOTIS^I  AND  RADICALISM 

now  than  I  did  then,  and  the  more  I  learn  about 
the  dominant  element  of  this  party  the  more  de- 
termined am  I,  in  the  year  1917  when  Germany  is 
threatening  the  well-being  of  human  life  on  this 
earth,  not  only  not  to  be  dominated  by,  but  not  to 
have  any  party  comradeship  with,  the  eighty  thou- 
sand Americans  who  constitute  the  Socialist  Party. 
The  more  I  looked  into  the  utterances  and  the 
activities  of  the  Socialist  Party  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  great  war  in  1914,  the  clearer  it  be- 
came to  me  that  the  Socialist  Party  in  America  is 
dominated  by  men  who  are  not  American,  but 
Pro-German,  in  sentiment.  Many  of  these  men 
are  not  only  unAmerican,  they  are  actually  anti- 
American.  They  are  both  alien-minded  and  alien- 
hearted.  Many  of  them  despise  and  are  at  enmity 
with  American  ideals  that  I  have  long  cherished, 
and  been  inspired  by,  and  for  which  I  am  ready  to 
lay  down  my  life.  Whatever  it  may  have  been  in 
the  past,  whatever  it  may  be  in  the  future,  at  this 
critical  juncture  of  human  affairs  the  Socialist 
Party  of  America  must  be  reckoned  among  the 
foes,  not  among  the  defenders,  of  the  Rights  of 
Man.  The  Socialist  Party  of  America  is  busily 
giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  conscienceless  ene- 
mies of  mankind.  The  Socialist  Party  of  Amer- 
ica is  conducting  itself  as  though  it  were  a  toy  or 
a  tool  of  Hohenzollernism ;  as  though  it  were 
branded  on  the  bottom,  "  Made  in  Germany." 
The  Socialist  Party  of  America  is  not  only  out  of 
touch  with  things  American,  it  is  out  of  touch  with 


PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM      23 

things  truly  and  wholesomely  democratic.  If  it 
is  not  a  traitor  to,  it  is  purblind  to,  the  larger 
democratic  hopes  of  humanity.  Therefore  the  So- 
cialist Party  of  America  is  no  fit  place  for  a  real 
American  to  be  in  the  year  1917.  Indeed,  it  is 
not  a  fit  place  for  any  man  to  be  in  whose  heart 
God  has  set  the  great  hope  of  a  world-wide  Broth- 
erhood divinely  democratic. 

Some  of  you  to  whom  what  I  have  just  said  is 
least  palatable  know  that  I  am  not  alone  in  mak- 
ing this  discovery  with  regard  to  the  Pro-German- 
ism of  the  Socialist  Party.  You  know  that  the 
discovery  has  been  made  by  some  of  the  most 
prominent  Sociahsts  in  America,  and  you  know 
that  every  day  men  of  national  reputation  who 
have  for  years  been  identified  with  the  SociaHst 
Party  are  leaving  it,  and  leaving  it  because  they 
distrust  both  the  Americanism  and  the  Socialism 
of  the  dominant  element  of  the  party. 

I  dare  say  what  I  have  said  —  oiTensive  though 
it  may  seem  to  some  of  you  to  be  —  because  I  can- 
not but  believe  that  deep  down  in  the  heart  of 
every  man  born  under  the  American  flag,  and  every 
man  who  of  his  own  free  will  has  come  to  dwell 
under  that  flag,  there  is  a  real  love  for  the  demo- 
cratic and  fraternal  ideals  for  which  that  flag 
has  stood,  for  which  that  flag  stands,  and  for 
which  that  flag,  without  being  dishonored,  may  yet 
stand. 

The  American  Flag  stands,  or  may  without 
being  dishonored  be  made  to  stand,  for  the  whole 


24      rATRIOTIS:M  AND  RADICALISM 

of  human  justice,  the  whole  of  human  fraternit}', 
the  wliole  of  human  equalit}'  of  opportunity. 
That  Flag  was  born  to  be  borne  onward  and  up- 
ward by  the  vanguard  of  Human  Freedom.  Be- 
neath it  "  whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatsoever 
things  are  honest,  whatsoever  things  are  just, 
whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things 
are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report  " 
find  their  natural  abiding  place.  It  is  the  friend- 
liest Hag  that  floats.  It  was  first  raised  by  the 
friends  of  humanity.  It  has  never  been  surren- 
dered to  the  foes  of  mankind,  whether  individual, 
or  corporate,  or  class.  It  is  base  disloyalty  not 
only  to  that  flag  but  to  the  brave  brotherly  hopes 
of  which  it  is  sj'mbolic  even  to  entertain  the 
thought  of  surrendering  it.  No  man  with  a  real 
freeman's  soul  could  see  in  it  the  emblem  of  slavery. 
It  is  a  shameless,  self-dishonoring  slander  to  speak 
of  the  flag  raised  b}'  Washington  and  kept  aloft 
by  Lincoln  as  the  flag  of  Wall  Street. 

Of  the  social  and  industrial  crimes  committed 
beneath  the  Stars  and  Stripes  I  do  not  need  to 
be  told.  I  know  the  whole  hateful  story  of  preda- 
tory wealth  in  the  "  land  of  the  free  and  the 
home  of  the  brave,"  by  chapter  and  verse.  I 
know  that  some  of  the  chapters  are  as  cruel  as 
hell.  I  know  there  are  pages  of  this  story  of 
American  business  that  are  as  inhuman  as  though 
they  were  ripped  from  the  blood-stained  diary  of 
some  Paris  Apache.  American  greed  for  gold  has 
kept  my  patriotism  on  the  cro^s  for  a  score  of  con- 


PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM      25 

scions  years.  I  know  the  burning  shame  of  it ! 
My  loyal  heart  is  intimately  acquainted  with  the 
agony  of  it ! 

But  I  know  that  the  American  Flag  is  not  re- 
sponsible for  the  brazen  sins  against  social  justice 
and  fraternity  committed  on  American  soil  by 
privileged  Americans  against  unprivileged  Amer- 
icans. The  Stars  and  Stripes  did  not  inspire 
those  sins.  The  Stars  and  Stripes  do  not  eclipse 
or  blot  out  those  sins.  The  Stars  and  Stripes 
do  not  justify  those  sins.  No  American  citizen, 
not  the  most  sordid,  dare  plead  his  loyalty  to  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  for  the  social  or  industrial  un- 
doing of  another  American. 

If  the  American  business  savage  finds  sanctuary 
in  the  shadow  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  the  fault 
is  not  the  Flag's.  The  fault  lies  with  the  sons 
of  freedom  who  have  fallen  asleep  or  sold  them- 
selves for  a  song  beneath  that  Flag.  The  fault 
lies  with  those  who  have  forgotten  or  never  learned 
the  meaning  of  the  Flag,  and  who  therefore  held 
it  cheaply,  and  who,  because  they  held  it  cheaply 
were  too  ready  to  surrender  it  to  the  foes  of 
those  that  Flag  was  born  to  befriend. 

Believe  me,  my  fellow-radicals,  it  is  the  great- 
est kind  of  folly  to  flout  the  Flag  for  the  social 
ills  of  which  you  justly  and  indignantly  complain. 
Line  upon  line,  star  after  star,  that  Flag  gives 
the  lie  to  those  who  would  use  it  for  purposes  of 
oppression.  When  I  see  those  gathered  beneath 
it  who  for  gain  are  ready  to  take  their  brethren  by 


26      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

the  throat,  its  red  stripes  seem  to  me  to  be  tongues 
of  fire  threatening  their  destruction.  There  is  no 
redder  red,  there  is  no  more  significant  red  for 
the  liberty-loving  man  in  any  flag  on  this  earth, 
than  the  read^^-to-die-for-freedom  red  of  the  Amer- 
ican Flag. 

There  is  no  propaganda  looking  towards  larger 
justice  and  nobler  fraternity  that  cannot  be  car- 
ried on  beneath  the  American  Flag,  and  carried 
on  in  utter  loyalty  to  it.  Every  honorable  politi- 
cal, social,  or  industrial  propaganda  ought  to  find 
in  that  Flag  a  mighty  inspiration.  That  Flag  is 
the  handiwork  of  radicals,  of  revolutionists,  and 
I  care  not  how  radical,  how  revolutionary,  you 
may  be,  if  your  aims  and  your  methods  are  hon- 
orable, if  you  mean  to  reach  your  goal  under  the 
American  Constitution  as  it  exists,  or  as  you  can 
get  it  constitutionally  amended  to  read,  you  will 
not  find  a  friendlier  symbol  under  the  sun  than 
that  Flag. 

To  me,  my  friends,  this  Flag  is  unspeakably 
dear.  Next  to  the  Cross,  it  is  my  highest,  holiest 
symbol.  I  love  it  passionately.  I  could  not  pos- 
sibly stand  by  and  see  dishonor  done  to  it.  I 
would  account  it  a  sweet  and  gracious  honor  to 
die  for  it.  I  beg  you  —  those  of  you  who  have 
been  most  aggravated  by  the  iniquities  and  injus- 
tices of  which  this  Flag  has  been  an  involuntary 
witness  —  I  beg  you,  not  to  be  tempted  into  any 
kind  of  disloyalty  to  this  Flag.  Not  ever,  but 
most  especially  not  now.     Not  now,  my  friends. 


PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM      27 

not  now !  For  America's  sake,  for  your  own  sake, 
for  Democracy's  sake,  for  the  world's  sake,  I  beg 
you  not  to  be  disloyal,  in  thought  or  word  or  deed, 
to  the  Stars  and  Stripes  at  this  crucial  moment  of 
human  history.  For  God's  sake,  men,  Americans, 
rise  up  to  the  height  of  loyalty  to  America  now ! 
Do  I  need  to  say  that  America  expects,  yes, 
demands  this  of  you?  She  does.  You  are  her 
sons  by  birth  or  adoption,  and  she  demands  of 
you,  as  she  has  a  God's  right  to  do,  the  service 
and  sacrifice  of  sons.  America  is  even  now  ris- 
ing up  to  her  full  splendid  height  and  speaking 
her  Almighty  Must.  Let  us  hear  and  heed  her 
voice.  If  we  refuse  to  do  so,  I  care  not  under 
what  pretext,  we  shall  seal  our  own  doom,  and  the 
doom  of  every  cause  to  which  we  give  our  al- 
legiance. We  shall,  like  the  Loyalists  of  Revolu- 
tionary, and  the  Copperheads  of  Civil  War  days, 
but  court  and  win  dishonor,  or  worse.  America 
is  speaking  to  us,  my  fellowcitizens,  and  speaking 
insistently.  America,  now  rising  into  heroic  mood, 
—  America  now  more  than  for  years  her  Great 
Self, —  is  calling  her  sons  to  her  side,  and  her 
voice  is  the  voice  of  Democracy,  is  the  voice  of 
Humanity,  is  the  voice  of  God. 


II 

WASHINGTON  THE  STATESMAN 


WASHINGTON  THE  STATESMAN 

Macaulay,  in  his  essay  on  Mill  on  Government, 
speaks  of  "  the  petty  craft  so  often  mistaken  for 
statesmanship  by  minds  grown  narrow  in  habits 
of  intrigue,  jobbing  and  official  etiquette." 

Between  the  noble  statesmanship  of  Washing- 
ton and  this  sort  of  ignoble  statecraft  there  is  a 
great  intellectual  and  ethical  gulf  fixed.  Those 
on  the  right  side  of  this  gulf  are  statesmen:  po- 
litical co-workers  with  God.  Those  on  the  wrong 
side  of  this  gulf  are  the  creeping  things  on  the 
body  politic,  known  today  as  "  politicians."  This 
fixed  gulf  between  "  politics  "  and  statesmanship 
is  not  altogether  impassable,  but  it  needs  a  mighty 
mental  and  moral  miracle  of  the  kind  that  seldom 
happens  to  get  a  politician  across  it  onto  the  right 
side. 

Washington  was  born  on  the  right  side  of  this 
political  gulf.  There  he  grew  up,  increasing  in 
favor  with  God  and  man  and  there  he  wrought  his 
great  and  splendid  work.  Never  once  did  he  cross 
over  the  gulf  to  the  other  side.  He  died  as  he 
lived,  a  clean-handed,  free-minded,  clear-souled 
servant  of  "  the  benign  Parent  of  the  human  race," 
of  whom  he  was  ever  humbly  conscious,  and  of  the 
country  he  carried  in  his  bosom  like  a  nursing 
father  and  so  ardently  loved. 
31 


32      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

r  A  great  statesman  is  a  great  political  seer. 
And  Washington  was  a  great  political  seer.  He 
had  a  great  vision  of  the  state.  He  was  a  states- 
man of  "  large  discourse,"  as  Shakespeare  would 
say.  He  had  the  God-like  capability  of  "  look- 
ing before  and  after."  His  letters  and  his 
speeches  leave  no  doubt  of  this.  The  "  Farewell 
Address "  is  marked  by  the  foresight  and  the 
insight  of  a  great  prophecy.  He  visualized,  first, 
America,  and  then,  American  problems,  afar  off. 
He  peered  into  the  future  and  saw  America  when 
as  yet  America  was  not.  And  when  America  came 
to  be,  he  knew  both  what  was  in  her,  and  what  was 
in  store  for  her. 

But  a  great  statesman  is  something  more  than  a 
great  political  seer.  He  must  be  a  great  actor 
or  doer,  a  great  steerer  or  helmsman.  He  must 
go  out  into  the  uncharted  sea  of  the  future  and 
bring  the  ship  of  state  he  sees  in  his  vision  safe 
into  the  port  of  the  present  where  she  can  be 
seen  and  boarded  by  ordinary  men.  It  is  not 
enough  for  him  to  tell  the  story,  or  to  paint  the 
picture,  of  some  imaginary  ship  of  state.  He 
must  make  the  ship  of  his  political  fancy  a  solid 
political  fact,  an  actual  concrete  thing  in  the 
world  of  politics  —  visible,  tangible,  workable. 
He  must  not  be  a  mere  talker,  a  word-mongerer, 
or  statement-maker.  He  must  be  a  doer,  a  builder, 
a  state-maker.  He  must  not  only  speak  out,  he 
must  strike  out,  blow  upon  blow,  to  the  end  that 
the  thing  he  visualizes  may  be  actualized  —  to  the 


WASHINGTON  THE  STATESMAN      33 

end  that  his  dream  may  be  dramatized  and  staged. 
If  I  may  venture  to  use  the  figure  of  a  rope-walker 
for  a  moment,  the  real  statesman  is  not  one  who 
merely  balances  himself  on  a  political  rope  swung 
near  the  ground.  He  must  dare  to  walk  the  rope, 
from  end  to  end,  and  that  too  when  stretched  at  a 
dangerous  height.  A  real  statesman  must  be  a 
man  of  undaunted  courage.  He  must  get  some- 
where with  his  ideals.  He  must  go  forth  valiantly 
with  them.  He  must  do  and  dare  for  them  at  all 
hazards,  he  should  not  be  a  "  man  on  horse-back  "  ; 
rather  should  his  feet  be  planted  squarely  on  the 
solid  earth.  But  he  should  have  a  horse  at  hand 
and  be  ready  and  able  to  mount  him  when  great 
occasion  calls  for  irrevocable  action. 

Now  Washington  was  not  only  a  great  political 
seer.  He  was  a  great  political  actor,  a  great  doer 
of  political  deeds,  a  great  steerer  or  helmsman  of 
the  ship  of  state.  He  was  an  extraordinarily 
great  and  intrepid  servant  of  an  extraordinarily 
noble  political  ideal.  He  is  what  the  English 
historian  has  so  finely  called  him,  "  the  noblest 
figure  that  ever  stood  in  the  forefront  of  a  na- 
tion's life." 


Ill 


WASHINGTON,  FIRST  IN  THE  HEARTS  OF 
HIS  COUNTRYMEN 

An  address  delivered  at  the  dedication  of  tablet 
in  Trinity  Church,  Newark,  by  the  Sons  of  the 
American  Revolution. 


WASHINGTON,  FIRST  IN  THE  HEARTS  OF 
HIS  COUNTRYMEN 

Sons  of  the  American  Revolution: 

I  bid  you  welcome  in  the  name  of  Old  Trinity. 
It  is  altogether  well  that  you  should  come  together 
in  this  consecrated  place  for  the  patriotic  pur- 
pose for  which  you  are  assembled. 

The  place  is  perfect.  In  a  peculiar  sense  it 
bears  the  imprimatur  of  him  who  beyond  all  others 
was  the  incarnation  of  the  Spirit  of  '76  —  of  him 
who  was  not  only  the  brawn  and  the  backbone,  but 
the  heart  and  brains  and  the  good  red  blood  of 
the  American  Revolution.  He  would  be  perfectly 
at  home  here. 

The  purpose  is  a  good  purpose.  Good  for  you, 
and  good  for  those  who  come  after  you.  And  I 
thank  you,  both  as  a  citizen  of  Newark  and  as 
rector  of  this  church,  for  emphasizing,  as  you 
do  by  the  fulfillment  of  your  purpose,  the  his- 
toric interest  of  this  old  building  which,  like  a 
precious  heir-loom,  adorns  the  throbbing  bosom 
of  this  city  as  she  slips  off  the  short  and  simple 
dresses  of  townhood  and  steps  upon  the  stage  of 
civic  womanhood  and  makes  her  challenging  bow 
to  the  world.  I  count  it  a  privilege  to  co-oper- 
37 


38      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

ate  with  you  in  the  execution  of  your  laudable 
purpose. 

"  The  place 

Where  shining  souls  have  passed  imbibes  a  grace 

Beyond  mere  earth." 

So  it  was  finely  said  by  James  Russell  Lowell  in 
the  poem  read  at  Cambridge  under  the  Old  Elm 
on  the  hundredth  anniversary  of  Washington's 
taking  command  of  the  American  Army. 

"  Words  pass  as  wind,    but  where  great  deeds  were 

done 
A  power  abides  transfused  from  sire  to  son: 
The  boy  feels  deeper  meanings  thrill  this  ear, 
That  tingling  through  his  pulse  life-long  shall  run, 
With  sure  impulsion  to  keep  honor  clear, 
When  pointing  down,  his  father  whispers,  '  Here, 
Here,  where  we  stand,  stood  he,  the  purely  great. 
Whose  soul  no  siren  passion  could  unsphere, 
Then  nameless,  now  a  power  and  mixed  with  fate." 

The  imperishable  tablet  placed  upon  yonder 
tower  is  meant  to  tell  Americans  of  today  and 
tomorrow,  especially  the  youth  of  our  land, — 
and  in  so  doing  to  preserve  whatever  of  inspira- 
tion such  knowledge  may  contain  for  the  historic 
imagination, —  that  a  "  shining  soul  "  whom  we 
hold  in  high  honor  and,  I  trust,  open  wide  our 
hearts  to,  once  passed,  foe  beset,  within  stone's 
throw  of  this  spot:  and  that,  when  he  and  the 
little  band  of  men  that  went  with  him  were  the 
sole  attentuated  golden  thread  upon  which  all  the 


WASHINGTON  39 

world's   hopes   of  liberal   government   then   hung. 

The  inscription  on  this  bronze  tablet  begins 
with  this  quotation  from  the  First  Book  of 
Samuel :  "  There  went  with  him  a  band  of  men 
whose  hearts  God  had  touched."  Let  me  tell  you 
why  I  so  greatly  desired  to  have  this  quotation 
in  the  inscription. 

First,  because  while  there  are  striking  contrasts 
between  Saul,  the  young  giant  of  Benjamin,  the 
leader  referred  to  in  this  passage,  and  Washing- 
ton, the  young  giant  of  Virginia,  the  leader  we 
have  in  mind.  Saul  was  so  unbalanced  a  soul  that 
even  his  great  genius  could  not  save  him.  Wash- 
ington possessed  the  "  genius  of  balance  "  in  a  pre- 
eminent degree  —  being  perhaps  the  most  "  even- 
balanced  soul,"  as  the  American  poet  thought,  and 
therefore,  as  the  English  historian  declared,  "  the 
noblest  figure  that  ever  stood  in  the  forefront 
of  a  nation's  life."  But  while  there  are  striking 
contrasts  between  Saul  and  Washington,  there  is 
a  striking  similarity  in  the  romantic  circumstances 
that  occasioned  the  Twelve  Tribes  of  Israel  to 
turn  to  Saul  as  a  savior  from  the  Philistines,  and 
the  romantic  circumstances  that  occasioned  the 
Thirteen  American  Colonies  to  turn  to  Washing- 
ton as  a  savior  from  the  British  Philistines  headed 
by  George  Third. 

There  is  another  and  stronger  reason  why  this 
quotation  appeals  to  me  as  peculiarly  appro- 
priate to  be  associated  forever  with  the  name  of 
him  who  was  once  proclaimed  in  all  sincerity  as 


40      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

"  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen  "  as  well 
as  "  first  in  war  "  and  "  first  in  peace." 

I  regard  it  as  one  of  my  highest  patriotic 
duties  to  do  everything  in  my  power  to  strengthen 
the  hold  of  Washington  upon  the  hearts  of  his 
countrj-men.  And  I  have  thought  that  this  quo- 
tation, which  appeals  at  once  to  the  heart,  would 
contribute  to  this  end.  It  seems  to  me  to  bring 
out  the  fact  that  a  heart,  a  heart  touched  by  God, 
is  essential  to  great  leadership.  For  men  of  heart 
do  not  follow  heartless  men.  Men  whose  hearts 
God  has  touched  do  not  follow  men  whose  hearts 
have  not  been  touched  by  God.  When  Saul  was 
called  to  the  kingship  we  are  told  "  God  gave  him 
another  heart."  God  gave  him  a  heart  with  His 
own  hands  big  enough,  and  human  enough,  and 
brave  enough,  to  serve  the  needs  of  a  king.  There- 
fore it  was  that  "  there  went  with  him  a  band  of 
men  whose  hearts  God  had  touched."  That  this 
was  so  in  a  far  greater  degree  in  the  case  of 
Washington  I  believe  with  all  my  heart.  There- 
fore my  heart  opens  wide  to  receive  him.  And 
nobody  ever  did,  or  ever  could,  impose  a  marble- 
hearted  man  upon  me  —  I  care  not  how  fair  he 
be.  The  man  who  finds  a  welcome  to  my  heart 
of  hearts  must  be  a  man  with  a  heart  of  flesh, 
a  heart  that  beats  in  strong  sympathy  with  every 
noble  cause,  a  heart  that  sends  good  red  blood 
without  stint  leaping  up  to  bathe  the  righteous 
thoughts  of  the  brain.  That  Washington  was 
such  a  man  I  am  as  sure  as  were  Henrv  Lee  and 


WASHINGTON  41 

John  Marshall  who  knew  him  well,  and  knew  that 
he  ought  to  be,  and  said  that  he  was,  "  first  in  the 
hearts  of  his  countrymen." 

Of  Washington's  greatness  there  is  no  question. 
His  title  to  greatness  is  guaranteed  by  the  whole 
world.  Lowell  calls  him  "  the  sole  chief  without 
a  blot,"  and  all  nations,  peoples  and  languages 
say,  Amen.  In  the  judgment  of  the  world  it  is 
as  silly  to  speak  contemptuously  of  the  greatness 
of  the  sun  as  it  is  to  speak  disparagingly  of  the 
greatness  of  Washington. 

But  how  is  it  with  Washington's  claim  upon  the 
aflFections  of  his  countrymen.''  It  is  not,  I  some- 
times fear,  for  his  sake  and  ours,  as  well  as  it 
should  be.  There  are  some  of  the  children  of 
light,  if  we  Americans  are  children  of  light,  who 
are  less  wise  in  this  matter  than  the  children  of 
the  world:  For  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the 
world  has  not  only  guaranteed  Washington's  title 
to  greatness  but  has  also  taken  him  much  to  its 
heart. 

I  could  wish  that  every  American  would  wel- 
come Washington  to  his  heart  of  hearts.  I  know 
that  it  is  rather  a  badge  of  shame  than  a  certificate 
of  superiority  not  to  do  so.  It  is  the  most  nat- 
ural thing  in  the  world  for  a  normal  American 
who  knows  Washington  to  give  him  a  high  place 
in  his  heart.  Nobody  would  expect  an  abnormal 
person  —  a  person  with  ethical  smart-jacks  (and 
there  are  a  good  many  such  afflicted  folk  among 
us)  —  to  love  anything  normal,  and  Washington 


42      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

was  in  all  respects  a  normal  human  being.  But 
the  failure  of  the  normal  American  to  give  Wash- 
ington the  high  place  in  his  affections  that  he 
richly  deserves  to  hold  is  almost  certain  to  be 
due  to  prejudice  based  upon  ignorance  —  igno- 
rance of  the  flesh  and  blood  man,  who  had  bones 
in  his  hands,  and  brains  in  his  head,  and  the  red- 
dest of  red  blood  in  his  heart  and  veins,  who  was 
at  once  a  splendid  lover  and  a  splendid  hater, 
who  possessed  great  grit  and  gumption  as  well 
as  great  grace,  and  who  was  physically,  mentally 
and  sympathetically  altogether  the  livest  human 
being  on  this  earth  when  God  touched  his  heart, 
and  girded  him  for  his  matchless  service  to  Amer- 
ica and  the  world. 

"  If  he  do  but  touch  the  hills  they  shall  smoke," 
sang  the  Psalmist.  What,  then,  if  God  touched 
the  heart  of  a  man?  Let  fiery  Moses  on  Sinai  as 
he  trembles  with  indignation  at  the  sight  of  the 
Golden  Calf  —  let  fiery  Wasliington  at  Kip's  Bay, 
at  Trenton,  at  Princeton,  at  Monmouth,  and  in 
his  trenchant  letters  to  Congress,  make  answer! 

The  marble  shaft  in  Washington  City  tells  only 
half  the  truth  about  him  in  whose  honor  it  was 
erected.  It  speaks  well  for  his  lofty  purity  and 
his  majestic  bearing,  but  its  cold  white  blocks 
tell  nothing  of  the  fierce  fires  that  burned  within 
the  full-blooded  Washington  from  the  days  of  his 
youth  Avhen  he  went  forth  into  the  wilderness  re- 
joicing as  a  giant  to  run  his  course  and  to  match 
his  prowess  against  wild  beast  or  savage  to  the 


WASHINGTON  43 

day  when  with  undimmed  eye  and  natural  force 
unabated  God  called  him  to  his  great  reward. 
That  hollow  shaft  would  only  be  a  fit  symbol  of 
Washington  if  it  were  converted  into  the  chimney 
of  a  blast  furnace  and  from  time  to  time  smoke- 
less flame  were  seen  leaping  from  its  summit. 

If  Washington  was  cold,  he  was  only  cold  as 
the  snow-clad  volcano  is  cold.  It  is  written, 
"  Our  God  is  a  consuming  fire."  The  man  whose 
heart  God  touches,  as  we  have  every  reason  to 
believe  he  touched  the  heart  of  Washington,  is 
never  an  icicle.  He  may,  if  he  be  great  enough, 
attain  "  the  energetic  passion  of  repose."  He 
will  certainly  burn  his  smoke,  if  he  be  a  man  after 
God's  heart.  But  within  he  will  be  a  burning 
fiery  furnace. 

Washington  was  splendidly  human.  Sometimes 
he  was  pathetically  human.  To  know  him  well 
is  to  love  him.  Not  to  love  him  is  to  lose  a  rare 
patriotic  opportunity.  To  love  him  is  an  honor 
to  any  heart  and  an  inspiration.  I  thank  God 
for  the  proud  privilege  of  receiving  this  "  shining 
soul,*'  this  "  modest  glory,"  this  incomparable 
human-hearted  gentleman,  and  soldier,  and  states- 
man, and  patriot  into  my  inmost  heart  as  my  own 
great  dear  countryman. 


IV 

PAXOMANIACS:  OR  PACIFISTS  RUN  MAD 

A  series  of  articles  published  in  the  Baltimore 
Evening  Sun,  April-June,  1917. 


PAXOMANIACS:  OR  PACIFISTS  RUN  MAD 

I 

What  is  a  Paxomaniac?  There  is  no  use  in 
looking  in  the  dictionary  for  the  word.  You  will 
not  find  it.  It  is  a  brand  new  word  —  just 
brought  to  birth  by  Necessity,  the  mother  of  in- 
vention. 

But  so  is  the  word  "  pacifist  "  a  new  word ;  so 
new  that  it  appears  neither  in  the  New  Standard 
Dictionary  of  1913  nor  the  Century  Dictionary 
of  1914.  Presumably  the  word  is  a  product  of 
the  belligerent  (not  to  say  contentious,  contro- 
versial, enraged,  exasperated,  exasperating,  fight- 
ing, furious,  harsh,  hateful,  hostile,  irritated,  irri- 
tating, provoked,  provoking,  quarrelsome,  stormy, 
tumultuous,  turbulent,  warlike)  peace  propaganda 
now  being  waged  in  England  and  the  United 
States.  It  would  not  be  fair  to  say  the  smell  of 
powder  started  this  propaganda,  but  that  the 
fresh  smell  of  it  has  greatly  accelerated  the  speed 
of  our  peace-makers  goes  without  saying.  How- 
ever that  may  be,  the  word  "  pacifist  "  seems  to 
have  been  coined  —  certainly  it  has  been  appro- 
priated—  by  the  two-forty-on-the-shell-road  (not 
to  say  typhoonish,  tornadoish,  whirlwindish) 
peace  propagandist  as  a  pleasing  description  of 
47 


48      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

himself  as  a  super-apostle  (I  had  almost  said,  a 
super-messiah)  of  peace  in  these  rambunctious 
times. 

Ask  a  self-confessed,  simon-pure  "  pacifist  "  to 
define  this  word, —  which  when  you  first  look  at 
it  appears  innocent  enough,  and  such  a  word  as 
might  be  fairly  descriptive  of  your  own  attitude 
towards  your  fellowmen  —  and  (presto!  change!) 
he  skins  up  a  sort  of  greasy  pole  to  a  dizzy  height, 
stands  on  the  tip  of  it,  improvises  a  halo  about 
his  head,  spins  around  like  a  dancing  dervish,  stops 
suddenly,  points  a  scornful  finger  at  some  such 
calm,  tranquil,  conciliatory,  gentle,  meek,  mild, 
peaceable,  neighborly  gentleman  as  (say)  William 
Howard  Taft,  and  with  a  withering  look  upon  his 
face,  cries,  "  Do  you  see  that  bold,  bad,  brutal, 
blood-thirsty,  militaristic  monster?  Thank  God 
I  am  not  what  he  is !  i  am  a  pacifist!!  My 
motto  is :  Peace  at  any  price.  My  belief  is  that 
the  use  of  force  is  absolutely  diabolical;  so  abso- 
lutely diabolical  that  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to  at- 
tempt to  differentiate  between  the  use  of  force 
by  the  Kaiser  in  the  invasion  of  Belgium  and  the 
use  of  force  by  Jesus  Christ  in  the  cleansing  of 
the  Temple.  I  suspect,  however,  the  scene  in  the 
Temple  has  been  incorrectly  reported  by  witnesses 
■with  mihtaristic  preconceptions.  Any  way.  Force 
is  fiendish.  Peace  is  the  be-all,  the  do-all,  the 
end-all  of  mankind.  Peace  is  the  one  and  only 
panacea."  Here  a  look  of  alarm  comes  into  his 
face.     Like  a  flash  of  greased  lightning  he  de- 


PAXOMANIACS  49 

scends  from  his  top-lofty  perch,  and  darts  off  the 
instant  he  hits  the  common  earth.  "  Whither  so 
fast  away,  O  passionate  pilgrim  of  peace?  "  you 
cry.  Back  comes  the  answer  like  a  ball  tossed 
over  the  head :  "  I  have  a  daughter  at  home  for 
whose  safety  I  fear  in  these  times  when  so  many 
lustful  brutes  are  abroad ! "  Or,  perhaps,  the 
answer  is :  "  My  night  watchman  is  sick  abed. 
I  must  myself  keep  watch  over  my  wife  and  chil- 
dren, my  cattle,  chicks  and  chattels,  tonight !  " 
If  the  answer  had  been  a  twelve-pound  shot  and 
had  struck  you  in  the  solar  plexus,  it  could  hardly 
have  knocked  the  wind  more  completely  out  of 
you.  To  say  that  you  are  dumbfounded  is  to  put 
it  mildly.  You  are  flabbergasted  in  the  last  de- 
gree. When  you  come  to  your  pacifist  friend  has 
disappeared.  You  stand  gazing  in  the  direction 
in  which  he  went,  and  then,  if  you  happen  to  know 
it,  the  story  of  the  old  country  fellow  who  met 
a  camel  face  to  face  for  the  first  time  at  a  circus 
comes  into  your  mind,  and  you  say,  with  a  feeling 
of  relief,  "  Gosh !  there  ain't  no  sich !  " 

But  you  are  wrong  —  just  as  wrong  as  old 
Reuben.  There  are  people  at  largo  in  England 
and  America  who  talk  and  behave  just  about  as 
preposterously  as  the  sweet  gentleman  who  called 
forth  your  explosive  remark.  And  those  people 
call  themselves  "  Pacifists."  That's  the  word  they 
have  invented  or  appropriated  by  which  to  call 
themselves.     But  they  really  are  Paxomaniacs. 

(The  reader  is  referred  to  *'  Through  the  Look- 


50      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

ing-Glass  and  What  Alice  Found  There  "—  espe- 
cially the  chapters  on  Tweedledum  and  Tweedle- 
dee,  in  which  the  poem  on  The  Walrus  and  the 
Carpenter  appears,  and  the  chapter  called  "  It's 
My  Own  Invention,"  in  which  the  story  of  the  Red 
and  White  Knights  is  given  —  if  he  would  under- 
stand the  "  pacifist  "  mind,  or  rather,  let  me  say, 
if  he  would  not  be  altogether  obfuscated  in  his 
effort  to  understand  it.) 

I  am  sure  the  word  "  paxomaniac  "  is  a  better 
word  to  describe  the  sort  of  person  I  have  in  mind 
than  is  the  word  "  pacifist  " ;  and  I  cannot  but 
feel  that  it  is  fairer  to  the  English  language  and 
to  the  large  number  of  normal-minded  persons  of 
pacific  temperament  who  speak  it  to  designate  this 
sort  of  a  person  as  a  paxomaniac  rather  than  as 
a  pacifist.  Every  well-disposed  person  is,  or  cer- 
tainly humbly  hopes  to  be,  a  pacifist ;  —  unless 
you  give  the  word  a  strained,  artificial,  pathologi- 
cal meaning.  To  accuse  all  of  the  English-speak- 
ing race  except  the  pitiful  little  flock  of  people 
who  call  themselves  pacifists  of  being  haters  of 
or  traitors  to  peace,  is  to  write  oneself  down 
either  as  a  fool  or  a  fanatic  of  the  most  hopeless 
kind,  and  to  slash  to  pieces  with  one's  tongue  both 
the  Ninth  Commandment  and  the  Golden  Rule. 
"  The  times  have  been,"  says  Macbeth,  "  That, 
when  the  brains  were  out,  the  man  would  die."  If 
these  were  such  times  as  those,  to  think  of  making 
such  an  accusation  would  be  positively   suicidal. 

Now  these  vociferous  peace-at-any-price  people 


PAXOMANIACS  51 

who  call  themselves  pacifists  arc  not  mere  paci- 
fists. They  are  pacifists  run  mad.  They  are  pac- 
ifists who  have  "  gone  juramentado  " —  as  we  used 
to  say  about  the  fanatical  Moro  in  the  Philippines 
who  took  an  oath  to  die  killing  Christians  —  and 
are  running  amuck.  They  are  peace  blinded  paci- 
fists. There  is  a  saying  among  Mohammedans, 
"  See  Mecca  and  die,"  a  variant  of  which  is,  "  See 
Mecca  and  see  no  more."  And  it  is  said  that 
certain  devout  Moslems  literally  obey  these  words 
by  gazing  at  white-hot  bricks  after  beholding  the 
Prophet's  tomb  until  their  sight  is  destroyed,  so 
that  what  they  are  pleased  to  call  the  "  supreme 
vision  "  shall  be  their  last  earthly  sight.  These 
English  and  American  pacifists  who  have  peeped 
at  Peace  through  a  key-hole  or  rifle-barrel,  or 
gazed  at  the  big  toe  or  the  back  of  Peace,  until 
they  are  peace-blinded  —  blind  to  everything  else 
but  Peace,  and  who  have  but  a  partial  and  dis- 
torted vision  of  Peace  —  are  the  spiritual  kith 
and  kin  of  these  frenzied  Moslem  zealots.  Psy- 
chologically, yes,  and  pathologically,  they  belong 
in  the  same  category.  Each  is  the  victim  of  a  re- 
ligious craze.  The  peace-at-any-price  pacifist  is 
peace-crazy.  He  is  no  longer  a  mere  pacifist. 
He  is  a  paxomaniac.  Mentally,  he  is  a  martyr 
to  Peace,  somewhat  though  not  on  the  same  plane 
as  the  Irish  woman  who  said  she  was  a  martyr  to 
drink. 


PAXOMANIACS:  OR  PACIFISTS  RUN  MAD 

II 

Let  us  make  it  perfectly  plain  at  the  outset 
of  this  second  article  on  "  paxomaniacs  "  that  I 
am  not  laboring  under  the  delusion  that  all  paci- 
fists are  victims  of  the  insidious  mental  and  moral 
malady  I  venture  to  call  paxomania. 

The  paxomaniac,  as  I  have  said,  is  the  pacifist 
run  mad.  He  is  the  slavish  purblind  devotee  of 
Pax,  the  mythical  Roman  goddess  of  peace,  by 
whom  he  has  been  bewitched  and  unmanned,  as  the 
companions  of  Ulysses  were  bewitched  and  un- 
manned by  the  enchantress  Circe. 

Of  course  the  ultra-pacifist  or  paxomaniac  will 
say  that  it  is  before  the  Prince  of  Peace,  and  not 
Pax,  that  he  prostrates  himself.  For  the  present 
I  postpone  further  comment  upon  this  claim  than 
to  say  it  seems  to  me  the  devotion  of  the  paxo- 
maniac is  too  lacking  in  masculinity  and  vera- 
ciousness  to  be  inspired  by,  and  too  overloaded 
with  femininity  and  freakishness  to  be  very  ac- 
ceptable to,  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

Such  sentimental  devotion  might  please  a  myth- 
ical, mystical  goddess.  A  Real  Man  it  could  not 
please. 

The  Prince  of  Peace  might,  out  of  pity,  suffer 
52 


PAXOMANIACS  53 

it.  He  could  not  possibly  enjoy  it.  He  never 
wasted  his  time  pouring  rosewater  on  toads.  He 
called  Herod  a  fox.  I  would  not  venture  to  say 
what  he  would  have  called  BernstorfF;  but  I  have 
a  strong  feeling  the  epithet  would  have  satisfied 
the  most  ardent  patriot.  And  I  would  wager  my 
eternal  soul  upon  it  that  he  would  not  have  sent 
a  bouquet  to  Bernstorff  or  a  message  of  good  will 
through  him  to  his  bad  willed  brethren  who  at 
the  moment  were  plowing  the  breast  of  Belgium 
and  sucking  her  blood  like  a  vampire.  The  Prince 
of  Peace  was  not  a  paxomaniac  —  either  a  real 
one  or  an  imitation  one.  The  peace-at-any-price 
palaver  would  have  stank  in  His  nostrils. 

Before  speaking  further  about  paxomaniacs,  let 
me  say  a  few  words  about  three  other  kinds  of 
present  day  "  pacifists  "  (by  which  I  mean  super- 
or  ultra-pacifists),  who  have  been  helping  to  make 
the  welkin  ring  with  peace  cries  and  yells  and 
screams  and  shrieks. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  to  say  anything  at  all 
in  this  connection  about  such  reasonable  and  rep- 
utable advocates  of  righteous  and  disinterested 
peace  as  those  who  have  figured  in  the  meetings 
held  at  The  Hague  before  the  present  war,  or 
those  who  are  identified  with  the  movement  for  a 
World  Court  or  with  the  League  to  Enforce  Peace. 
The  Emergency  Peace  Federation,  with  its  disin- 
genuous demand  for  a  "  popular  referendum  vote," 
is  altogether  too  hysterical,  if  not  too  hypocriti- 
cal, to  be   classed   as   reputable.     It   smells   too 


54      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

strongly  of  German  cologne.  It  is  too  full  of 
pro-Prussian  peace  piffle,  which  sticks  in  any  hon- 
est throat  even  when  spooned  up  and  crammed 
down  by  "  Mrs.  J.  Sergeant  Cram,  For  the  Com- 
mittee." And  Amos  Pinchot  with  his  paste  and 
pinch-beck  peace  propaganda  is  perfectly  prepos- 
terous.    Amy  is  a  scream. 

First  I  shall  speak  of  such  "  pacifists  "  as  Henry 
Ford  and  Dr.  Kirchway.  And  yet  there  are  re- 
cent indications  that  both  Henry  and  the  Doctor 
have  at  least  heard  Wisdom  crying  on  the  sea  or 
in  the  streets,  and  have  come  to  repentance  and 
a  better  mind.  Since  that  frightfully  patriotic 
offer  of  his  to  the  President,  from  the  standpoint 
of  a  paxomaniac  Henry  is  a  shameful  outlaw  seek- 
ing to  imbrue  his  hands  in  the  blood  of  holy  Huns 
and  to  interfere  sacrilegiously  with  their  pious 
piratical  plans.  And  since  Dr.  Kirchw^ay  has 
fallen  from  grace  in  the  eyes  of  those  with  whom  he 
has  been  flocking  and  vociferating  by  saying 
"  There  is  no  question  as  to  the  duty  of  the  Presi- 
dent to  protect  American  rights  on  land  and  sea 
...  I  believe  in  peace  so  long  as  we  can  have  it 
with  honor.  When  we  can't,  I  want  to  fight  " — 
the  New  York  Times  speaks  of  him  as  "  a  pacifist 
with  lots  of  company,"  meaning  us. 

But  as  it  is  still  a  question  as  to  how  soundly 
converted  Henry  and  the  Doctor  are;  and  as 
their  hearts  are  still  fluttering  at  the  thought  of 
what  might  have  been  accomplished  by  their  voy- 
age and  vociferation  if  only  this  world  had  been 


PAXOMANIACS  66 

populated  with  the  sort  of  people  that  that  sort 
of  thing  appeals  to ;  and  as  they  are  in  some  meas- 
ure responsible  for  the  vagaries  of  their  quondam 
shout-fellows  ;  and  as  they  are  representative  of  a 
class  of  people  whose  emotions  sometimes  run  away 
with  their  common  sense  so  fast  and  far  that  it  is 
difficult  for  Wisdom  to  call  them  back,  and  yet 
who  have  that  in  them  to  which  Wisdom  could 
make  an  effective  appeal  once  she  was  given  a 
hearing  —  it  seems  to  me  fair  that  mention  should 
be  made  of  them. 

But  of  course  they  are  not  paxomaniacs.  They 
were  threatened  with  paxomania,  at  one  time  they 
seemed  to  have  an  alarming  number  of  the  germs 
of  the  disease  in  their  brains,  but  they  managed 
to  thin  them  out  sufficiently  before  they  were 
completely  victimized.  They  escaped  by  the  skin 
of  their  teeth.  The  fact  that  they  escaped  (let 
it  be  said  in  passing)  keeps  alive  in  one's  heart 
the  hope  for  one's  friends  who  are  in  the  incipient, 
or  even  secondary,  stages  of  the  malign  malady. 

Secondly,  I  must  mention  the  "  pacifist  "  whose 
devotion  to  peace-at-any-price  is  the  outgrowth 
of  his  social  or  economic,  theories,  rather  than  of 
his  religious  convictions.  He  is  probably  a  So- 
cialist, and  apt  to  be  affiliated  with  the  Socialist 
Party.  He  is  pumped  full  of  such  historic  slush 
as  that  all  wars  are  of  capitalistic  origin  and  are 
waged  at  the  cost  of  the  working-class  for  the 
benefit  of  the  capitalist  class.  Sometimes  he  is 
so  far  gone  that  he  speaks  of  the  flag  of  his  coun- 


56      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

try  as  the  capitalist's  flag,  for  which  he  has  little 
or  no  respect.  He  resolves,  partly  for  his  own 
sake,  partly  for  the  sake  of  the  working-class, 
not  to  assist  in  any  way  in  fighting  the  battles  of 
capitalism.  While  his  resolution  is  not  without 
a  touch  of  humaneness,  especially  towards  those 
of  his  own  class,  the  dominating  motive  back  of 
it  is  one  of  policy.  "  Pacifism  is  the  best  policy 
for  the  proletariat  "  is  the  one  big  thought  in  his 
mind.  Cut  out  war  and  the  proletariat  will  win 
out  in  its  fight  with  the  master-class,  he  thinks. 
I  do  not  call  this  social  or  economic  pacifist  a 
paxomaniac,  as  he  is  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a 
hundred  ready  enough  to  fight  —  if  he  is  allowed 
to  stage  the  fight.  Just  as  a  matter  of  social 
policy,  of  social  strategy,  he  coolly  decides  to  re- 
sist as  far  as  possible  the  pressure  brought  to 
bear  upon  him  to  make  him  fight  for  the  powers 
that  be.  Their  fight,  he  thinks,  is  not,  cannot  be, 
his  fight.  "  Let  them  fight  their  fight,  and  I'll 
fight  mine."  Of  course  he  might  take  this  same 
view  about  paying  taxes,  with  no  worse  show  of 
reason ;  or,  for  the  matter  of  that,  the  view  of  the 
philosophical  anarchist,  and  ask,  with  a  shrug  of 
the  shoulders,  Why  a  State  at  all? 

It  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  add  that  though 
I  call  myself  a  Socialist  I  take  precious  little  stock 
in  this  ignorant  and  ignoble  phase  of  Socialism. 
To  call  the  man  a  fool  or  a  knave  who  claims  the 
privileges  of  American  citizenship,  and  yet  foams 
out  his  shame  by  talking  of  higher  loyalty  to  some 


PAXOMANIACS  67 

other  flag  than  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  seems  to 
me  to  be  giving  him  more  honor  than  is  his  due. 
Whatever  attitude  the  State  might  take  toward 
such  tainted  citizenship  in  peace  times,  in  war 
times,  the  State  would  be  justified  in  requiring 
its  citizens  without  exception  to  make  choice  be- 
tween the  Stars  and  Stripes  and  the  bars  and 
stripes. 

And  yet,  and  yet,  this  perverted  loyalty  on  the 
part  of  some  of  our  unprivileged  fellow-citizens  is 
the  rotten-ripe  fruit  of  the  rank  undergrowth  that 
springs  from  the  seed  of  anti-social  selfishness 
sown  and  nurtured  by  some  of  those  who  are  fond 
of  thinking  of  themselves  as  our  "  best  citizens," 
and  who  are  our  privileged  fellow-citizens.  For 
these  to  rail  at  those  is  for  the  pot  to  call  the 
kettle  black.  There  would  be  less  flouting  of  the 
flag  if  there  were  less  looting  "  within  the  law  " 
under  the  flag. 

But  I  am  very  far  from  trying  to  justify  those 
who  flout  the  flag.  Un-Americanism,  anti-pa- 
triotism, sedition,  are  not  an  essential  feature  of 
pure  Socialism.  They  are  a  cutaneous  affection 
of  uncleansed  Socialism.  They  are  no  more  an 
essential  part  of  the  fraternal  economic  program 
that  off'ers  itself  to  the  world  for  the  betterment 
of  the  whole  human  brotherhood  under  the  name 
of  Socialism  than  scrofula  is  an  essential  part 
of  the  human  skin. 

Thirdly,  let  me  make  mention  of  the  pro-German 
and  anti-British  hypocrite  who  not  long  ago  vainly 


58      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

tried  to  hide  his  hateful  hypocrisy  behind  the 
word  "neutral"  (which  he  did  so  much  to  dis- 
credit) and  who  is  now  vainly  trying  to  hide  it 
behind  the  word  "pacifist"  (which  he  has  done 
even  more  to  discredit).  "For  ways  that  are 
dark  and  tricks  that  are  vain  "  the  Heathen 
Chinee  is  not  in  it  with  this  professional  advocate 
of  private  treachery  and  public  pusillanimity. 
The  shame  of  it  is  their  name  is  "  Legion." 
There  are  many  who  believe  you  only  have  to 
scratch  a  "  pacifist  "  to  find  a  pro-Prussian  or  a 
Sinn  Feiner.  That  is  perhaps  putting  it  too 
strongly,  but  there  is  truth  enough  in  it  to  bring 
the  whole  "  pacifist  "  propaganda  under  the  grav- 
est suspicion.  It  is  not  unfair  to  say  that  the 
American  "  pacifist  "  is  at  this  moment  the  paid 
or  unpaid,  the  acknowledged  or  unacknowledged, 
servant  of  the  will  of  Prussianism  in  America. 
He  is  the  pliant  tool  of  Prussian  chicanery  and 
treachery.  Consciously  or  unconsciously  he  sings 
and  dances  and  cavorts  to  Prussian  tunes,  to  the 
Kaiser's  delight.  So  true  is  this,  that  for  the 
time  being  the  very  name  of  peace  sounds  un- 
pleasant to  patriotic  American  ears,  and  one  is 
tempted  to  paraphrase  INIadame  Roland's  pas- 
sionate outcry  and  sa}",  "0  Peace!  Peace!  how 
many  crimes  are  committed  in  thy  name !  "  Such 
shameful  usage  has  Peace  suffered  of  late  at  the 
hands  of  her  false  friends,  so  has  her  visage  been 
marred  and  her  garments  besmirched,  that  I  some- 
times  wonder   whether   she  will  ever   shine   forth 


PAXOMANIACS  69 

again  in  the  heart  of  humanity  in  the  beauty  of 
her  holiness  until  she  has  been  baptized  afresh  in 
blood  or  purified  by  fire.  Certain  it  is  that  her 
true  lovers  must  save  her,  at  whatever  cost,  from 
her  false  friends.  These  false  friends  of  peace  I 
do  not  call  paxomaniacs,  however  much  like  paxo- 
maniacs  they  may  look  and  act.  They  can  make 
no  claim  to  forgiveness  on  the  ground  of  not 
knowing  what  they  do.  It  is  not  to  the  Phipps 
Psychiatric  Clinic  that  they  should  be  sent  if  war 
comes  and  they  persist  in  their  activities.  The 
problem  they  present  is  rather  a  penological  than 
a  pathological  one. 

Lest  misunderstanding  arises  from  the  omission 
let  me  say  that  my  regard  for  loyal  Americans  of 
German  descent  is  as  great  as  my  regard  for  any 
of  my  fellow-citizens.  Among  these  there  are 
those  I  love  and  wholly  trust. 

Coming  back  now  to  the  paxomaniac  (w^hose 
case  I  have  especially  in  mind  in  these  articles)  I 
want  to  speak  to  the  diflferentiating  claim  he 
makes  for  himself  and  his  fellows  of  being  "  pro- 
truth,  pro-humanity,  and  pro-Christian."  But  I 
must  leave  this  for  my  next  article. 


PAXOMANIACS :  OR  PACIFISTS  RUN  MAD 

III 

In  considering  the  extraordinary  claims  of  the 
paxomaniac  to  a  higher  than  ordinary  morality, 
humanity  and  Christianity,  the  obliquity  of  the 
super-pacifist  approaches  Egyptian  darkness.  In 
this  darkness  he  stands  and  prays  thus  with  him- 
self :  "  God,  I  thank  Thee  that  I  am  not  as  other 
men  are !  "  A.  M.  Simons,  a  Socialist,  recently 
emerged  from  the  twilight,  if  not  the  midnight  of 
pacifism,  having  in  mind  this  pharisaical  phase 
of  this  mental  and  moral  malady,  does  not  hesi- 
tate to  call  the  ultra-pacifist  a  snob.  Such  an 
opinion,  coming  from  such  a  source,  is  worth 
attending  to ;  and  if  a  snob  be  defined  as  one  who 
pretends  to  a  superiority  he  does  not  possess,  and 
who  speaks  to  his  betters  as  if  they  were  his  in- 
feriors because  they  refuse  to  enter  into  his  fool's 
paradise,  it  is  an  opinion  shared  by  about  90  per 
cent,  of  the  hundred  million  people  who  call  them- 
selves Americans.  It  is  the  opinion  of  all  those 
for  whom  President  Wilson  spoke  in  his  message 
to  Congress  on  April  2.  It  is  the  opinion  of  all 
Americans,  except  those  aliened-souled  residents 
of  the  United  States  for  whom  La  Follette  spoke 
on  April  4,  that  Senator  from  Wisconsin  with  the 


PAXOMANIACS  61 

bee  of  Berlin  in  his  brain,  that  Vallandigham  up 
to  date,  whose  "  honor  rooted  in  dishonor  stood  " 
and  whose  "  faith  unfaitliful  kept  him  falsely 
true."  If  there  are  other  exceptions  the  burden 
of  proof  is  upon  them  at  such  a  time  as  this  to 
show  it. 

In  The  Ex^ning  Sun  of  February  19  there  ap- 
peared an  unsigned  article  entitled  "  A  Pacifist's 
Statement  of  the  Pacifist  Position."  The  article, 
I  have  good  reason  to  believe,  was  written  by  one 
of  the  leading  "  pacifists  "  of  this  community  and 
one  who  may  be  regarded  as  a  fair  spokesman  for 
the  "  pacifists  "  generally.  In  the  course  of  this 
article  the  author  makes  this  differentiating  claim 
in  behalf  of  the  "  pacifists  " : 

"  I  shall  only  answer  for  myself  and  all  with 
whom  I  am  associated  in  the  effort  to  present  and 
to  strengthen  the  cause  of  peace,  that  we  are  not 
pro-German,  but  pro-truth,  pro-humanity  and 
pro-Christian  in  intent,  notice  and  effort."  Let 
me  now  speak  to  this  extraordinary  claim  of  a 
higher  than  ordinary  morality,  humanity  and 
Christianity. 

Space  forbids  saying  anything  further  about 
the  relation  of  "  pacifism  "  and  "  pro-Germanism  " 
than  this :  That  they  are  under  existing  circum- 
stances of  very  necessity  closely  related  —  pos- 
sibly as  closely  as  the  Siamese  twins,  but  cousins 
German  at  the  remotest.  The  hope  of  Hohenzol- 
lernism  in  America  is  "  pacifism."  It  is  a  con- 
temptible hope,  but  it  is  the  only  hope.     However 


62      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

immaculate  the  "  pacifist  "  may  believe  himself  to 
be  (whether  or  not  he  has  lied  to  himself),  "in 
intent,  motive  and  effort,"  in  effect  he  is  pro- 
German.  If  he  is  a  pacifist  run  mad,  he  is  as 
serviceable  a  tool  of  Prussianism  as  if  his  mind 
bore  the  imprint  "  Made  in  Germany."  It  is  in 
vain  for  him  to  answer  the  charge  of  pro-German- 
ism with  a  "  I  know  not  what  thou  sayest,"  for  the 
very  breath  with  which  he  speaks,  nine  times  out 
of  ten  or  oftener,  is  tainted  with  the  ethical 
rottenness  that  has  all  but  destroyed  the  soul 
of  Germany.  However  regrettable  this  may  be 
from  the  standpoint  of  one  who  proposes  to  save 
the  foe-beset  world  by  an  endless  chain  of  sopho- 
moric  declamation,  it  is  an  incontrovertible  fact. 
The  truth  of  this  is  so  palpable  it  would  seem  as 
if  a  wayfaring  man,  though  a  William  Jennings 
Bryan,  or  even  an  Amos  Pinchot  or  a  David  Starr 
Jordan,  could  not  fail  to  see  it.  And  the  "  paci- 
fist "  who  is  not  ready  to  be  reckoned  with  the 
transgressors  (whether  the  "  Loyalists  "  of  Revo- 
lutionary days  or  the  "  Copperheads  "  of  the 
Civil  War)  would  do  well  to  take  to  heart  the 
famous  saying  of  Bishop  Butler: 

"  Things  are  what  they  are,  and  the  conse- 
quences of  them  will  be,  so  why  do  we  wish  to 
deceive  ourselves."  But  let  us  pass  on.  Is  a 
more  than  ordinary  regard  for  truth,  for  veracity, 
one  of  the  noteworthy  characteristics  of  the  ultra- 
pacifist  or  paxomaniac.'' 

That  the  very  reverse  is  true  is  my  deliberate 


PAXOMANIACS  68 

judgment,  formed  after  hearing  and  reading 
wholesome  quantities  of  the  best  the  propaganda 
has  to  say  for  itself,  much  of  it  from  the  lips  and 
pens  of  those  toward  whom  I  had  the  friendliest 
disposition.  And  this  judgment  is  sustained  by 
the  overwhelming  weight  of  public  opinion.  It  is 
well-nigh  universal.  The  strongest  impression 
made  upon  me  by  the  oral  arguments  and  the 
advertisements  of  the  ultra-pacifists  is  that  of  un- 
soundness, of  unveraciousness.  I  would  hesitate 
to  call  the  typical  ultra-pacifist  or  paxomaniac  a 
liar  (unless  he  intimated  that  opposition  to  his 
propaganda  was  based  upon  financial  considera- 
tions), but  that  he  is  "mighty  careless  with  the 
truth  "  I  am  absolutely  convinced.  He  plays  all 
manner  of  tricks  with  history.  Facts  he  ignores, 
creates,  or  dresses  up  as  suits  his  immediate  needs. 
The  way  in  which  he  falls  for  what  Tommy  Atkins 
calls  an  "  Hun-truth  "  if  it  seems  to  promise  even 
a  moment's  aid,  and  the  way  in  which  he  falls  in 
behind  an}'  old  Pied  Piper  of  Hamlin  who  plays  a 
peace  tune,  is  oftentimes  positively  pathetic. 
The  Pantheon  of  Pacifists,  with  its  busts  of  Bryan 
and  BernstorfF,  La  Follette  and  "  Gum-Shoe  Bill," 
Bertrand  Russell  and  David  Starr  Jordan  and 
Amos  Pinchot  with  an  armful  of  paste  and  pinch- 
beck peace  creations,  is  a  Chamber  of  Horrors  to 
one  who  has  not  been  stricken  Avith  this  peace-at- 
any-price  mania. 

So  far  as  veracity  is  concerned,  the  atmosphere 
of  ultra-pacifism  is  suifocating  to  the  man  of  aver- 


64      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

age  intellectual  honesty,  who  faces  facts  fear- 
lessly, thinks  straight,  follows  his  thought  directly 
to  its  goal  and  shapes  his  conduct  accordingly. 
To  turn  from  an  essay  of  Matthew  Arnold  to  a 
piece  of  ultra-pacifist  literature  is  to  pass  from  a 
reasonable  into  a  topsy  turvy  world.  Every  page 
one  turns  one  expects  to  see  Tweedledum  and 
Tweedledec,  and  to  hear  the  former  say : 

"  I  know  what  you're  thinking  about ;  but  it 
isn't  so,  nohow,"  and  the  latter  continue : 

"  Contrariwise,  if  it  was  so,  it  might  be ;  and  if 
it  were  so,  it  would  be,  but  as  it  isn't,  it  ain't. 
That's  logic." 

The  truth  is  safe  in  the  hands  of  no  man  who 
is  short  on  humor.  And  that  is  just  where  al- 
most if  not  all  ultra-pacifists  break  down.  I  have 
tried  some  of  them  on  Bairnsfather's  cartoons  and 
seen  a  distressed  look  come  into  their  faces  and 
heard  them  say :  "  I  see  nothing  amusing  about 
that.  War  is  too  serious  a  matter  to  be  joked 
about." 

After  the  above  criticism  of  the  "  pro-truth  " 
claim  of  the  ultra-pacifists,  perhaps  I  ought  to 
justify  myself  by  citations.  It  is  not  easy  to  do 
that  satisfactorily  in  an  article  of  this  length. 

First,  then.  Here  is  a  half-page  advertisement 
before  me,  in  which  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  Vis- 
count James  Bryce,  Stonewall  Jackson,  Richard 
Harding  Davis  and  Napoleon  Bonaparte  are 
quoted  as  though  they  would  be  glad  to  be  num- 
bered among  the  "  pacifists  "  in  glory  if  they  only 


PAXOMANIACS  66 

had  the  chance.  Perhaps  this  is  too  absurd  to  be 
called  dishonest,  but  it  makes  the  truth  feel  un- 
comfortable all  the  same.  I  don't  mean  to  say  the 
men  did  not  use  the  words  attributed  to  them. 
But  no  person  of  intelligence  could  for  a  moment 
suppose  they  meant  them  to  mean  what  your  radi- 
cal pacifist  tries  to  make  them  mean.  This  sort 
of  "  carelessness  with  the  truth  "  is  a  common 
failing  among  the  advocates  of  peace-at-any- 
price. 

Secondly.  After  a  meeting  at  the  Central 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  Philadel- 
phia, at  which  an  address  was  delivered  on  "  Chris- 
tianity, Not  Non-Resistance,"  when  the  hall  had 
been  emptied  of  all  save  "  half  a  dozen  men  and 
Miss  Margaret  Cope  Aubrey  of  the  Woman's 
Peace  League,"  a  telegram  was  framed  and  sent  to 
Washington  announcing  to  President  Wilson  that 
"  the  meeting  without  dissent  "  urged  peace.  Sec- 
retary Eaton  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, with  whom  I  happened  to  dine  next  day, 
was  indignant  over  the  matter,  and  as  soon  as  he 
learned  of  it  sent  a  telegram  to  Washington  dis- 
claiming responsibility  for  the  telegram  both  on 
the  part  of  the  association  and  the  meeting  at 
which  the  address  was  delivered.  This  is  the 
second  instance  of  a  petty  trick  of  this  kind  that 
has  come  under  my  immediate  notice.  In  the 
other  case  it  was  discovered  before  the  telegram 
was  actually  sent  and  blocked. 

Thirdly.     Two    of    the    great    "  classics "    of 


66      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

ultra-pacifism  are  "  New  Wars  for  Old,"  by  John 
Hayncs  Holmes,  and  "  Why  Men  Fight,"  by  Ber- 
trand  Russell.  For  John  Haynes  Holmes,  Avhen 
not  functioning  as  a  paxomaniac,  I  have  a  high 
regard,  but  this  specious,  spidery,  saccharine  plea 
of  his  for  pusillanimity  bedizened  with  the  paint 
and  powder  of  radical  pacifism,  makes  absolutely 
no  appeal  to  me.  It  nauseates  me,  I  put  the 
book  down  with  a  sigh,  murmuring,  "  Ichabod ! 
Ichabod !  "  and  praying  that  the  eclipse  will  not 
be  too  prolonged. 

Listen  to  this:  "To  such  persons  (radical 
pacifists),  a  nation  appeals  simply  and  solely  as 
an  idea  or  group  of  ideas."  "  Germany  (is) 
...  an  idea  of  culture,"  "  And  just  here  in  this 
spiritual  idea  of  nationality  do  we  find  the  su- 
preme, the  unanswerable  vindication  of  the  men 
who  would  save  America  at  this  time  from  mili- 
tarism." "  If  you  look  upon  America  as  a  great 
ideal  of  the  spirit,  independent  of  territory  and 
population  and  wealth,  then  all  such  things  as 
armies  and  navies  become  matters  of  supreme  in- 
difference. For  the  spirit  is  impregnable  to  all 
the  attacks  that  the  hand  of  man  can  bring 
against  it."  "  What  if  Germany  came  here  to- 
day as  she  came  to  Belgium  yesterday ! "  "A 
free  people  would  still  be  free,  even  though  in 
chains."  And  so  on,  ad  nauseam.  It  is  enough 
to  raise  the  price  of  bi-carbonate  of  soda ! 

As  to  Bertrand  Russell,  while  he  occasionally 
lapses   into   sense,  he  can  generally  be  depended 


PAXOMANIACS  67 

upon  in  his  plea  for  cowardice  to  be  not  only 
intellectually  but  morally  unsound,  not  to  say 
putrid.  It  has  been  some  days  since  I  read  his 
book  and  I  still  smell  it.  He  queries  whether 
national  independence  is  worth  the  price  paid  for 
it.  Then,  without  a  smile,  he  gets  off  this :  "  I 
cannot  doubt  that,  before  the  war,  a  hegemony  of 
this  kind  (over  the  whole  world!)  would  have 
abundantly  satisfied  the  Germans."  Here  is  a 
choice  specimen :  "  What  is  desirable  in  a  Legis- 
lature is,  not  that  it  should  decide  by  its  personal 
sense  of  right,  but  that  it  should  decide  in  a  way 
which  is  felt  to  make  an  appeal  to  force  unneces- 
sary." 

Next.  Is  a  more  than  ordinary  regard  for 
humanity  one  of  the  noteworthy  characteristics 
of  the  ultra-pacifist  or  paxomaniac.'' 

I  confess  that  in  view  of  the  dumbness  of  the 
vociferous  advocates  of  peace-at-any-price  when 
confronted  with  the  invasion,  occupation,  robbery 
and  rape  of  Belgium,  with  the  Armenian  mas- 
sacres, with  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania,  with  the 
deportation  of  Belgian  civilians,  and  such  prus- 
sianlike barbarities,  and  their  eager  readiness  to 
try  to  make  out  a  case  for  Germany,  it  seems  to 
me  the  very  question  is  an  insult  to  ordinary  hu- 
manity. Whatever  the  paxomaniac  may  stand 
for  in  theory,  I  could  not  for  a  moment  admit  that 
he  stands  for  a  nobler  kind  of  humanity  in  fact. 
Quite  the  contrary.  Were  his  claim  well-founded 
I    should   be   in   utter   despair   of   humanity.     It 


68      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

would  convince  me  that  humanity  was  rotten  to 
the  core.  When  men  stand  by  while  some  Tarquin 
rapes  a  woman  like  Lucretia,  or  some  Kaiser  rapes 
a  nation  like  Belgium,  and  oppose  nothing,  or 
nothing  but  sentimentality,  between  the  woman  or 
the  nation  and  her  foul  fate,  and  after  the  black 
deed  is  done,  regard  the  woman  or  the  nation  with 
a  feeling  of  coldness  or  irritation,  and  apologize 
for  the  villain,  and  try  to  tri})  up  those  who  go 
to  the  rescue  of  the  victim,  the  abomination  of 
desolation  will  be  standing  Avhere  it  ought  not  on 
this  earth,  and  the  damnation  of  mankind  will  no 
longer  slumber,  nor  ought  it.  I  have  listened  to 
more  than  enough  of  the  fine  talk  of  the  ultra- 
pacifist.  I  have  taken  absolutely  no  stock  in  such 
cheap,  shoddy,  nasty  stuff.  It  is  distinctly  dis- 
creditable to  the  human  heart.  Moral  insanity  is 
the  only  possible  excuse  for  it.  The  paxomaniac 
glories  in  what  normal  people  call  shame.  At 
least  that  is  the  way  he  talks.  INIaybe  his  bark 
is  worse  than  his  bite. 


PAXOMANIACS:  OR  PACIFISTS  RUN  MAD 

IV 

Is  a  more  than  ordinary  regard  for  the  prin- 
ciples of  Christianity  one  of  the  noteworthy  char- 
acteristics of  the  ultra-pacifist  or  paxomaniac? 

In  answering  the  second  question  the  answer  to 
this  one  was  substantially  given.  But  several 
other  things  ought  to  be  said. 

And  first  a  word  or  two  about  Moses,  througli 
whom  came  the  commandment  "  Thou  shalt  do  no 
murder."  It  seems  that  this  commandment,  more 
than  any  other  moral  precept,  except  one,  is  re- 
sponsible for  the  morbid  hysteria  of  the  ultra- 
pacifist  on  the  subject  of  war.  He  has  worked 
himself  into  a  state  of  mind  in  which  he  thinks  that 
public  killing  is  just  as  wicked  as  private  killing, 
and  that  the  cause  for  the  killing  has  absolutely 
nothing  to  do  with  the  case?  We  should  remind 
ourselves  that  Moses  was  under  no  such  delusion. 
He  not  only  approved  of  the  killing  of  men  in 
what  he  regarded  as  a  necessary  war,  and  showed 
it  by  ordering  his  people  to  fight,  and  by  taking 
those  to  task  who  attempted  to  dodge  their  share 
of  the  fighting,  but  he  provided  for  capital  pun- 
ishment in  his  criminal  code. 

A  word  or  two  about  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah 


70      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

to  the  effect  that  nations  "  shall  beat  their  swords 
into  plowshares  and  their  spears  into  pruning 
hooks ;  nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  na- 
tion, neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more." 
This  prophecy,  which  appears  both  in  Isaiah  and 
Micah,  plays  a  prominent  part  in  all  peace  propa- 
ganda. It  is  a  noble  prophecy,  and  worthy  of  all 
honor.  But  it  is  not  entirely  honest  to  quote  it 
without  giving  its  context,  which  goes  to  show 
that  the  prophecy,  in  the  case  of  both  prophets, 
was  a  kind  of  Utopian  dream.  In  both  instances 
the  prophecy  is  preceded  by  the  words,  "  It  shall 
come  to  pass  in  the  last  days."  On  the  other 
hand,  the  prophet  Joel,  addressing  the  world  im- 
mediately about  him,  cries :  "  Prepare  war,  wake 
up  the  mighty  men,  let  all  the  men  of  war  draw 
near ;  let  them  come  up :  Beat  your  plowshares 
into  swords  and  your  pruning  hooks  into  spears ; 
let  the  weak  sa}^  I  am  strong." 

But  the  paxomaniac  has  an  easy  answer  to  any 
suggestion  drawn  from  the  Old  Testament  that 
tends  to  discredit  his  views.  He  ruthlessly  sub- 
marines it.  With  a  superior  smile,  he  sends  the 
book  which  was  the  university  of  Jesus  to  the 
bottom,  much  like  the  Kaiser  sent  the  Lusitania. 
He  takes  no  stock,  he  tells  you,  in  any  part  of  the 
Bible  except  the  New  Testament. 

Let  us  see,  then,  what  kind  of  stock  he  takes  in 
the  New  Testament.  There  are  two  texts  in  which 
he  rings  the  changes.  One,  "  Resist  not  evil," 
taken  from  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (as  reported 


PAXOMANIACS  71 

by  Matthew;  Luke  reports  it  otherwise).  The 
other,  "  They  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish 
with  the  sword,"  taken  from  the  scene  in  the  gar- 
den (as  reported  by  Matthew;  John  reports  it 
otherwise  and  certainly  more  truly).  On  these 
two  sayings  attributed  to  Jesus  the  paxomaniac 
hangs  his  doctrine  of  absolute  nonrcsistance.  For 
him  these  two  sayings  (especially  the  former)  are 
the  be-all  and  the  end-all  of  the  matter.  Nothing 
else  matters,  or  matters  much.  The  sum  and  the 
substance  of  Christianity  is  this :  The  use  of 
physical  force  is  the  unpardonable  sin.  Nothing 
achieved  by  the  use  of  the  least  degree  of  physical 
force  can  possibly  be  acceptable  to  God.  The 
Venus  de  Milo  is  his  ideal  of  justice.  The  burden 
of  Jesus  was  far  less  to  persuade  men  to  be  some- 
thing or  do  something  than  to  convince  them  that 
it  would  be  better  not  to  try  to  be  anything  or  do 
anything  than  to  try  to  be  it  or  do  it  by  the  aid 
of  force.      So  he  thinks. 

If  one  ventures  to  remind  the  paxomaniac  of 
such  sayings  of  Jesus  as  "  I  came  not  to  send 
peace,  but  a  sword,"  and  "  He  that  hath  no  sword, 
let  him  sell  his  garment  and  buy  one,"  and  "  If 
My  kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would  My 
servants  fight,"  he  says  he  interprets  these  in  a 
figurative  sense.  It  is  useless  to  remind  him  that 
he  has  just  been  insisting  upon  interpreting  his 
favorite  passages  with  terrible  literalness.  He 
merely  says,  "  That  is  different." 

If  one  ventures  to  suggest  that  the  Sermon  on 


72      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

the  Mount  was  rather  a  prospectus  of  an  ethical 
code  of  action  to  become  fully  operative  only 
when  the  kingdom  for  which  it  was  intended  be- 
came somewhat  of  a  reality  (there  are  the  plainest 
indications  in  the  sermon  itself  that  portions  of  it 
belong  in  the  category  of  the  idealistic  prophecies 
of  Isaiah  and  Micah)  ;  and  that  Jesus  did  not 
Himself  in  His  everyday  life  live  up  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  sermon  when  strictly  and  narrowly 
interpreted,  as  witnessed  by  His  use  of  physical 
force  in  the  cleansing  of  the  Temple  and  by  His 
not  turning  the  other  cheek  when  He  was  smitten 
at  the  trial ;  not  to  mention  His  admiration  of  the 
Roman  centurion  and  the  fact  that  He  allowed  at 
least  two  of  His  disciples  to  carry  swords,  and  the 
personal  invective  He  made  use  of  upon  occasions 
—  if  one  does  this,  the  paxomaniac  makes  one  of 
two  answers,  each  perfectly  satisfactory  to  him- 
self. First,  "  You  are  evidently  a  militarist,  and 
we  can  never  agree  about  such  matters."  Sec- 
ond, "  Jesus  gained  nothing  by  the  use  of  physical 
force  in  the  Temple.  His  conduct  upon  that  oc- 
casion is  an  embarrassment  to  the  cause  of  paci- 
fism. He  should  never  have  used  that  '  scourge 
of  small  cords  '  or  overturned  the  tables  of  the 
money-changers."  I  have  had  both  these  answers 
made  to  me.  The  state  of  the  paxomaniac  who 
makes  the  second  is,  of  course,  worse  than  that  of 
the  one  who  makes  the  first.  He  is  not  satisfied  to 
be  "  as  "  his  Lord ;  he  must  be  "  above  "  Him.  In 
personal  conduct  he  proposes  to  out-messiah  the 


PAXOMANIACS  73 

Messiah.  He  is  a  paxomaniac  indeed.  In  the 
holy  cause  of  peace-at-any-price  he  accepts 
"  Gum-Shoe  Bill  "  and  his  confederates,  but  he  has 
misgivings  even  about  the  Hero  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. And  here  we  have  the  reductio  ad  ahsur- 
dum  of  this  decadent  cult. 

If  one  were  to  ask  the  paxomaniac  what  he 
makes  of  St.  James'  "  Resist  the  devil  and  he  will 
flee  from  you  " ;  or  such  a  passage  as  this  from 
the  Revelation  of  St.  John  the  Divine,  "  In  right- 
eousness he  doth  judge  and  make  war"; — he 
would  probably  tell  you  that  he  not  only  took  no 
stock  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  not  much  stock 
in  the  New  Testament  outside  of  the  Gospels ;  and 
if  he  was  thoroughly  honest  (at  least  this  is  so  in 
the  more  extreme  cases)  he  would  tell  you  he  took 
precious  little  stock  in  the  Gospels  except  so  far 
as  they  lent  themselves  to  his  propaganda. 

Let  me  bring  these  articles  to  a  close  with  a 
quotation  from  Ferdinand  Brunetiere,  editor  of 
the  Revue  des  deaux  Mondes,  generally  regarded 
as  one  of  the  finest  living  intellects. 

"  Pacifism  is  essentially  and  fundamentally  a 
coward's  creed.  Cowardice  is  based  on  the  pro- 
found conviction  that  death  is  the  greatest  of  evils 
because  life  is  the  greatest  of  goods.  But  for  the 
honor  of  humanity  it  must  be  said  that  neither  sen- 
timent is  (generally  believed  to  be)  true.  No, 
indeed ;  life  is  not  the  greatest  of  goods,  for  it  is 
the  fundamental  principle  of  morality  that  many 
things  ought  to  be  preferred  to  life;  and  death  is 


74      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

by  no  means  the  greatest  of  evils,  since  our  true 
manhood  is  undoubtedly  to  be  measured  by  the 
height  to  which  we  rise  above  the  fear  of  it." 

There  you  have  it.  Pacifism,  especially  that 
aggravated  form  of  it  I  call  paxomania,  is  a  cow- 
ard's creed.  I  do  not  say  that  everyone  victim- 
ized by  it  is  a  coward.  But  that  does  not  alter 
the  fact  that  the  creed  is  essentially  and  funda- 
mentally cowardly.  And  because  it  is  such,  it  is 
neither  true,  nor  human,  nor  Christian. 

It  is  a  far  cr}'  from  this  creed  to  the  "  Fear 
not  them  that  kill  the  body  "  of  Jesus,  that  Great 
Gentleman  Unafraid,  whose  working  maxim  was, 
"  Whoever  shall  seek  to  save  his  life  shall  lose  it, 
and  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  shall  preserve  it !  " 


V 
FIRST  IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE 

I 

On  August  25th,  1900,  about  noon,  in  the  villa 
of  "  Silberblick,"  overlooking  Weimar,  the  Holy 
City  of  Literary  Germany,  an  extraordinary  lu- 
natic died. 

For  the  last  twelve  years  of  his  life  this  lunatic 
was  absolutely  dependent  upon  two  women.  Had 
the  Mona  Lisa  been  painted  after  this  man's  death 
by  one  familiar  with  his  low  views  of  women  and 
his  immense  debt  to  them,  we  would  know  how  to 
account  for  the  subtile  smile  on  her  face. 

One  of  these  two  women  was  his  mother.  A  dis- 
ciple of  this  man  calls  her  a  "  true  mater  dolo- 
rosa." She  died  at  Easter,  1897.  The  other  was 
his  sister.  The  last  word  he  uttered,  and  she 
thinks  he  uttered  it  joyfully,  was  her  name,  "  Eliz- 
abeth !  "  His  death  was  expected  about  noon  of 
the  day  before  he  actually  died.  His  sister  speaks 
of  this  in  her  biography  of  him.  "  A  frightful 
thunderstorm  was  raging  at  the  time,"  she  writes, 
"  and  it  seemed  as  if  this  mighty  spirit  were  to 
depart  from  the  world  amidst  thunder  and  light- 
ning." An  ardent  disciple,  referring  to  this  pas- 
sage, says,  "  One  involuntarily  thinks  of  Napoleon 
when  his  attendants  at  St.  Helena  told  him  they 
had  seen  a  comet  flashing  across  the  sky.  '  You 
77 


78      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

have  seen  a  comet?  Then  I  am  going  to  die.  A 
comet  appeared  just  before  Julius  Cfesar  died.' 
And  his  death  did  take  place  not  long  aftenvards." 

This  sister  was  evidently  greatly  impressed  by 
the  passing  of  her  brother.  She  writes :  "  Again 
he  opened  those  wonderful  eyes  of  his.  He  moved 
uneasily,  opened  his  mouth,  and  shut  it  again,  as 
if  he  had  something  to  say  and  hesitated  to  say  it. 
And  it  seemed  to  those  who  stood  around  that  his 
face  slightly  reddened  thereat.  Then  a  light 
shudder ;  a  deep  breath  —  and  softly,  silently, 
with  one  final  majestic  look,  he  closed  his  eyes 
forever.  '  Thus  it  happened,  that  Zarathustra 
departed.'  " 

"  From  far  and  near  came  the  mourning  friends 
and  disciples,"  writes  Dr.  Mugge  in  his  "  Life  and 
Work  "  of  this  man,  to  which  I  am  much  indebted 
for  these  Impressions.  "  The  young  Horneffer, 
later  on  editor  in  the  Nietzsche-Archiv,  came  from 
Gottingen,  and  over  the  coffin  in  the  house  of 
mourning  he  delivered  a  worthy  funeral  oration. 
'  To  all  futurity  his  life  has  become  a  school  of 
independence.  We  do  not  wait  over  this  coffin. 
The  man  who  lies  here  is  not  dead.  It  is  not  the 
night  of  death  which  has  come  here  —  it  is  the 
dawn  of  a  new  day.  I  seem  to  see  the  dead  man 
raise  himself;  he  stands  erect,  and  a  world  throws 
itself  at  his  feet ! '  " 

At  the  grave  of  this  extraordinary  lunatic  in 
his  native  village  of  Rocken,  Peter  Gast,  his  life- 
long friend  and  disciple,  delivered  the   following 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE        79 

address.  Dr.  Mugge  ventures  to  call  it  "  rather 
flamboyant,"  and  J.  M.  Kennedy,  author  of  "  The 
Quintessence  of  Nietzsche,"  goes  so  far  as  to  say, 
"  At  the  first  reading  it  may  seem  too  stately  and 
ceremonious  " ;  but  both  felt  that  it  deserved  to  be 
quoted,  the  former  in  part,  the  latter  in  full,  and 
preserved  for  posterity. 

"  And  now  that  thy  body,  after  the  majestic 
Odyssey  of  thy  mind,  has  returned  to  its  mother 
earth,  I,  as  thy  disciple,  and  in  the  name  of  all  thy 
friends,  deliver  unto  thee  our  heartfelt  Thanks  in 
memory  of  thy  great  past. 

"How  could  we  be  thy  friends.''  Only  because 
thou  didst  value  us  too  highly ! 

"  What  thou  wast  as  a  world-moving  spirit  is  plain 
for  all  eyes  to  see;  and  what  thy  heart  was  is  shown 
in  the  trend  of  thy  thoughts.  For  the  stamp  of  great- 
ness lies  over  all  thou  hast  thought  —  and  all  great 
thoughts  come,  as  Vauvenargues  says,  from  the 
heart. 

"  We,  however,  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  be 
near  thee  in  daily  life:  we  know  only  too  well  that 
the  charm  of  thy  person  can  never  be  adequately  con- 
ceived from  the  thoughts  in  thy  books.  This  has  now 
left  us  forever. 

"  What  was  said  by  the  glance  of  thine  eye,  or  by 
that  remarkable  mouth,  was  full  of  beauty  and  good- 
ness; it  was  a  concealment  of  thy  majesty:  thou 
wouldst  fain  (to  use  one  of  thy  own  most  tender 
phrases)  thou  wouldst  fain  spare  us  from  shame. 
For  who  can  show  us  another  example  of  the  wealth 
of  thy  spirit  and  the  impulse  of  thy  heart  to  do  good 
unto  others? 


80      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

"  Thou  wast  one  of  the  noblest  and  purest  men  that 
ever  trod  this  earth. 

"  And  although  this  is  known  to  both  friend  and 
foe,  I  do  not  deem  it  superfluous  to  utter  this  testi- 
mony aloud  at  thy  tomb.  For  we  know  the  world ;  we 
know  the  fate  of  Spinoza !  Around  Nietzsche's  mem- 
ory, too,  posterity  may  east  shadows !  And  there- 
fore I  close  with  the  words :  Peace  to  thy  ashes ! 
Holy  be  thy  name  to  all  coming  generations !  " 

Once,  in  antebellum  days,  a  Frenchman  was 
dining  with  my  grandfather  at  his  country-seat  in 
Mississippi.  An  old  negro  servant  was  waiting  on 
the  table.  But  he  became  so  interested  and 
amazed  at  the  language  of  the  French  guest  that 
he  had  to  be  reminded  of  his  duties  several  times. 
Finally  the  strange  phenomenon  so  completely 
overmastered  him  that  he  entirely  forgot  himself, 
and  going  up  to  my  grandfather,  and  leaning  over 
him  as  he  sat  at  the  head  of  the  table,  he  said  in 
a  stage  whisper  and  with  a  look  of  profound  pity 
on  his  black  face,  "  Marster,  was  he  born  so.''  " 

What  shall  we  say  of  the  extraordinary  lunatic 
over  whose  remains  Peter  Gast  pronounced  his 
"  rather  flamboyant  "  address  in  the  summer  of 
1900.?  In  January,  1889,  his  ingrowing  egotism 
had  carried  him  up  to  the  top  of  an  exceeding 
high  mountain  in  the  interior  parts  of  the  human 
mind  and,  after  he  had  fallen  down  and  worshipped 
himself,  had  left  him  there  under  the  mighty  con- 
viction that  he  was  a  god. 

Which  god  he  was,  he  was  not  quite  sure.     To 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE        81 

Frau  Wagner,  "  the  woman  from  whom  Nietzsche's 
soul  never  freed  itself,"  Dr.  Mugge  thinks,  he 
wrote:  "Ariadne,  I  love  you!  —  Dionysos." 
To  Georg  Brandes,  the  Danish  critic,  he  wrote  a 
letter  "  in  very  large  handwriting  on  a  sheet  of 
ruled  paper,  signed  Der  Gekreuzigtc,  The  Cruci- 
fied One."  Of  this  letter  the  ardent  English  dis- 
ciple referred  to  above  says :  "  So  far  as  it  is 
worth  while  deciphering  its  incoherence,  we  are  led 
to  suppose  from  it  that  Nietzsche  identifies  him- 
self with  Jesus  Christ,  of  whom  he  imagines  him- 
self to  be  the  successor  and  the  '  best  enemy.'  " 
It  was  an  exaggerated  case  of  "  Dr.  Jekyll  and 
Mr.  Hyde,"  for  with  Nietzsche  the  better  man  (if 
I  may  be  pardoned  for  the  moment  for  thinking  of 
Jesus  Christ  as  better  than  Bacchus !)  was  at  en- 
mity with  himself. 

What  shall  we  say  of  this  extraordinary  luna- 
tic.'' Was  he  born  so.''  Certainly  not!  The 
very  idea  is  absurd!  Not  only  was  Nietzsche  not 
born  insane,  or  even  with  the  least  tendency  to- 
wards insanity,  but  he  was  up  to  the  very  end  of 
the  3^ear  1888  absolutely  sane  and  healthy-minded. 
Nobody  but  a  full-fledged  fool  or  a  Christian, 
which  is  a  distinction  without  a  difference,  could 
or  would  think  otherwise.  At  least,  this  is  the 
answer  that  the  ardent  disciples  of  Nietzsche 
would  make  to  the  above  question.  The  sin 
against  the  Holy  Ghost,  if  your  disciple  of 
Nietzsche  believed  either  in  sin  or  the  Holy  Ghost, 
would  be  to  entertain  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  that 


82      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

this  "  erect  "  man,  at  whose  feet  the  world  is  sup- 
posed to  throw  itself,  was,  up  to  the  end  of  the 
year  1888,  and  especially  the  years  1881  up  to 
1888,  during  which  time  liis  purely  philosophical 
works  were  written,  was  not  absolutely  sane,  did 
not  enjoy  the  most  perfect  mental  health. 

Unless  you  can  accept  this  dictum,  you  have  no 
chance  whatever  of  being  received  in  the  inner 
circles  of  the  simon-pure  disciples  of  Nietzsche. 
The  Virgin  Birth  of  Jesus  Christ,  even  among  the 
straitest  sect  of  Christian  theologians,  is  hardly  to 
be  compared  with  the  necessity  of  the  belief  in  the 
Normal  Action,  the  Perfect  Process,  of  Nietzsche's 
mind  from  not  later  than  1881  up  to  at  least  1887, 
if  not  up  to  the  time  of  the  acknowledged  mental 
breakdown. 

"  It  must  be  clearly  pointed  out  that  this  stroke 
of  insanity  came  ver}'  suddenly',"  writes  the  ardent 
disciple  who  furnishes  us  Avith  the  "  Quintessence  " 
of  Nietzsche.  And  lest  we  fail  to  swallow  this 
barbed  hook  that  he  throws  to  us,  baited  with 
nothing  better  than  warm  assertion,  he  throws  the 
hungry  hook  to  us  again  in  the  same  paragraph. 
He  tells  us  that  from  the  "  year  1882  Nietzsche's 
health  had  been  steadily  improving,"  and  that 
"  he  was,  generally  speaking,  in  a  happy  frame  of 
mind  and  a  sound  state  of  body."  He  tells  us 
that  "  in  1888  he  produced  a  large  amount  of 
work,  in  no  part  of  which  can  any  traces  of  mad- 
ness be  found  by  even  the  most  sceptical  inquirer." 
"  His  breakdown,  then,"  he  reiterates  almost  test- 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE        83 

ily,  *'  took  place  with  appalling  suddenness  be- 
tween January  1st  and  4th,  1889." 

Even  Dr.  Mugge,  who  is  a  much  more  candid 
biographer  than  Mr.  Kennedy,  whose  candor  must 
indeed  be  adjudged  by  some  of  his  fellow-disciples 
to  go  the  full  length  of  rashness  if  not  of  treach- 
ery, says:  "After  1881  —  and  this  is  very  im- 
portant to  remember,  for  his  purely  philosophical 
works  were  written  after  that  date !  —  Nietzsche 
was  comparatively  well,  and  '  never  had  more  than 
fourteen  days  of  ill-health  annually,  up  to  1887.'  " 
One  simply  must  swallow  this  hot  dictum,  and  the 
moment  it  begins  to  burn  commence  to  curse  and 
to  swear  at  the  Truth  "  as  it  is  in  Jesus,"  and  to 
continue  to  curse  and  to  swear  until  one  is  blind 
and  deaf  and  morally  insane,  if  one  is  to  have  any 
real  satisfaction  and  abiding  peace  in  believing  in 
Nietzsche.  Otherwise,  the  temptation  to  believe, 
wath  G.  M.  Gould,  that  "  it  is  certain  that  the  so- 
called  sudden  stroke  of  1888  was  only  the  more 
apparent  effect  of  thirty  years  of  over-use  and 
disease  of  the  brain,"  and,  with  Chamberlain,  that 
"  the  first  signs  of  the  fearful  malady  appeared 
as  early  as  1878,  '  scattering  the  splendid  intel- 
lect,' "  will  be,  as  we  shall  ourselves  see  before 
long,  altogether  too  great  to  be  successfully  re- 
sisted. 

As  early  as  1878  we  find  Nietzsche  writing: 
"  As  long  as  I  was  a  real  scholar,  so  long  was  I 
healthy ;  but  then  there  came  music,  which  shat- 
tered my  nerves,  and  the  metaphysical  philosophy. 


84      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

and  the  care  of  a  thousand  things  which  ought  not 
to  have  troubled  me." 

Carlotta,  his  landlady  in  Genoa  where  he  spent 
a  part  of  1880,  relates  that  whenever  reference 
was  made  in  Nietzsche's  hearing  to  one  of  her 
sons  who  died  in  an  asylum,  he  used  to  whisper 
"  Anch'  io."  He  himself  wrote  to  GersdorfF : 
"  My  father  died  at  the  age  of  36  of  inflamma- 
tion of  the  brain ;  it  is  possible  that  it  may  take  me 
off  still  earlier." 

Dr.  Mugge  tells  us  that  in  1882  Nietzsche  be- 
gan to  take  hydrate  of  chloral,  and  that  "  he 
admits  that  this  always  caused  him  to  see  men  and 
things  in  a  false  light  the  next  morning  —  show- 
ing, as  in  De  Quincey's  case,  that  the  drug  had 
*  palsying  effects  on  the  intellectual  faculties.'  " 
"  For  this  reason  he  again  and  again  struggled  to 
give  up  the  use  of  that  drug,"  says  Dr.  Mugge. 

That  struggle  was  in  vai^.  The  ''Will  to 
Power  "  failed  to  work  for  "  Zarathustra  "  in  the 
case  of  the  drug-habit  as  dismally  as  Christian 
Science  failed  to  work  for  "  Mother  Eddy  "  when 
she  had  to  struggle  with  a  good  old-fashioned 
tooth-tache. 

We  find  Nietzsche  writing  to  his  brother-in-law, 
Dr.  Foerster :  "  I  take  narcotic  after  narcotic, 
in  order  to  alleviate  my  sorrow,  and  yet  I  cannot 
sleep.  To-day  I  shall  take  so  much  that  I  shall 
lose  my  senses." 

Besides  chloral.  Dr.  INIugge  tells  us  that 
Nietzsche    also    used    "  an    uncommon    narcotic, 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE        85 

which     an     old     Dutchman     had     brought     from 
Java." 

And  this  candid  Doctor  of  Philosophy  gives  his 
readers  the  benefit  of  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Ilee,  a 
physician,  of  his  former  friend  Nietzsche.  In 
1897  he  wrote  to  a  friend  that  "  Nietzsche  was  a 
madman,  a  man  craving  for  fame  at  any  price,  a 
poor,  sick,  and  perhaps  lunatic  poet,"  whom  he 
could  never  read,  and  whom  to  read  at  all  was  only 
possible  in  extracts. 

Nevertheless  Dr.  Mugge  does  not  desert  his 
hero.  After  he  has  shown  him  to  us,  as  hopelessly 
punctured  (so  many  will  think),  as  St.  Sebastian, 
according  to  European  painters,  the  doughty 
Doctor  martials  his  italics  and  marches  them  right 
across  the  middle  of  the  page  to  the  rescue  of  his 
master  whom  he  calls  "  poet-philosopher,  a  lover 
of  mankind,  a  prophet  of  a  '  Christ  that  is  to  be,'  " 
and  whom  he  looks  to  to  rescue  humanity,  or  a 
saving  remnant  of  it,  from  the  abyss  of  Chris- 
tianity. "  We  are,  however,  bound  to  uphold  our 
conviction  that  Nietzsche  was  never  mad  before 
the  December  of  1888,  and  we  must  call  in  ques- 
tion '  the  existence  of  a  thirty  years '  mental 
disease  of  which  the  stroke  of  apoplexy  was  only 
the  visible  effect.  We  must  utterly  denounce  such 
a  book  as  that  of  Svhacht,  in  which  Nietzsche  is 
described  as  already  mad  in  1886,  and  as  a  wicked 
scoundrel  and  boaster." 

I  believe  that  every  fair-minded  man  will  with- 
out hesitation  agree  with  the  Doctor  that  he  is 


86      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

absolutely  bound,  and  not  only  bound,  but  mor- 
tised and  glued,  and  not  only  bound  and  mortised 
and  glued,  but  nailed  and  screwed,  to  the  dictum 
he  sets  down  in  italics  —  if  he  means  to  be  a 
Nietzscheanite. 

Just  here  I  am  reminded  of  the  story  of  the 
bull-dog  that  stirred  up  a  hive  of  bees,  and  then 
beat  a  hasty  retreat  to  a  barrel  nearby,  the  far 
end  of  which  was  open,  the  head  in  the  near  end 
being  intact  but  with  a  bung-hole  in  it.  The  plan 
of  the  bull-dog  was  to  enter  the  barrel  through  the 
open  end  away  from  the  bees,  and  then,  safely 
ensconced  in  this  block -house,  to  snap  the  bees  up 
one  by  one  as  they  came  through  the  bung-hole. 
The  plan  left  nothing  to  be  desired  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  bull-dog  —  except  the  adherence 
to  it  on  the  part  of  the  bees.  The  be-barreled 
bull-dog  looked  defiance  through  the  bung-hole  at 
the  impassioned  bees.  On  they  came,  humming 
their  chant  of  hate,  heedless,  it  seemed,  of  their 
hidden  foe.  Now  he  could  almost  see  the  whites 
of  their  eyes.  He  opened  his  mouth,  involun- 
tarily closing  his  eyes  as  he  did  so.  He  snapped 
his  lantern  jaws.  But  he  evidently  mis-snapped, 
for  there  was  no  mangled  bee  between  his  teeth. 
He  opened  his  eyes.  No  bees  were  in  sight.  Ah, 
thought  he,  the  cowards  espied  me  and  have  fled, 
the  wish  being  father  to  thought.  His  logical 
mind  had  hit  upon  a  half  truth.  They  had  es- 
pied   him,    but,    dog-gone-it,    they    had    not    fled. 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE        87 

The  next  instant  he  heard  the  chant  of  hate  be- 
hind him.  Before  he  could  reverse  for  the  rear- 
attack  the  full  force  of  the  stinging  blow  of  out- 
raged bee-dom  had  been  delivered.  They  had 
"  passed-up  "  the  bung-hole  in  favor  of  the  open 
end  of  the  barrel ! 

The  moral  of  which  is  tliat  the  bung-hole  logic 
of  this  befuddled  bull-dog  left  something  to  be  de- 
sired !  And  if  it  is  not  too  unkind  to  say  so,  the 
pathetic  effort  of  Dr.  Mugge  to  barricade  his  con- 
viction that  "  Nietzsche  was  never  mad  before 
1888  "  behind  a  couple  of  lines  of  italics  has  some- 
how reminded  me  of  this  bit  of  bung-hole  logic. 
The  doctor's  position  is  as  vulnerable  as  that  of 
the  bull-dog.  And  in  this  the  disciple  is  like  his 
master. 

The  strength  of  Nietzscheism  is  dependent  upon 
its  success  in  inducing  the  human  mind  to  pass 
over  its  preposterous  pons  asinorum,  or  through 
the  fang-guarded  bung-hole  through  which  it 
squints  at  human  life. 

I  have  so  much  affection  and  esteem  for  dogs 
that  I  am  somewhat  ashamed  of  the  base  uses  to 
which  this  dog  has  been  put,  and  while  I  am  only 
partl}^  responsible  for  the  indignity,  I  feel  that  I 
ought  to  apologize  to  my  canine  friends.  I  do  so, 
making  my  kow-tao,  and  if  that  is  not  sufficient  I 
will  add  a  bow-wow  to  my  bow. 

The  first  complete  and  authorized  English 
translation  of  the  works  of  Friedrich  Nietzsche, 


88      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

published  by  the  Macmillan  Company,  and  edited 
by  Dr.  Oscar  Levy,  a  passionate  disciple,  com- 
prises eighteen  volumes,  including  an  Index,  but 
not  including  some  eighteen  volumes  of  posthu- 
mous publications  printed  by  the  Nietzsche  Ar- 
chives, of  Weimar,  under  the  direction  of  Nietz- 
sche's sister,  Frau  Foerster-Nietzsche.  Nat- 
urally, the  length  of  this  paper  forbids  us  to  do 
more  than  take  a  cursory  glance  at  the  contents 
of  these  books.  Indeed  we  may  not  be  able  to  do 
so  much  as  peep  into  all  of  them.  So  far  as  we 
are  able  to  look  into  them,  however,  we  shall  look 
through  the  eyes  of  Nietzsche's  disciple  Dr. 
Mugge.  But  before  we  take  a  look  into  these 
books  at  all,  let  us  acquaint  ourselves  somewhat 
further  with  the  life  of  the  author. 

Nietzsche  was  bom  October  15,  1844,  twelve 
years  after  Goethe's  death,  and  thirty-one  years 
after  Wagner's  birth.  His  father,  through  the 
grace  of  King  Friedrich  Wilhelm  IV  of  Prussia, 
was  at  the  time  pastor  of  the  village  of  Rocken, 
in  Saxony.  Nietzsche  was  christened  "  Friedrich 
Wilhelm  "  as  a  memento  of  his  father's  royal  bene- 
factor. The  family  evidently  had  an  eye  to 
princes.  Nietzsche  was  pleased  to  think,  Avhether 
on  adequate  ground  is  questioned  by  Dr.  Mugge, 
that  he  was  of  noble  Polish  descent,  and  he  loved 
to  be  addressed  and  spoken  of  by  the  populace  as 
"  il  Polacco."  He  was  the  eldest  of  three  chil- 
dren. His  little  brother  Joseph  died  soon  after 
his  birth.     We  know  that  Elizabeth  survived  him. 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE        89 

His  father  died  when  Nietzsche  was  not  quite  five. 
The  event  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  boy. 
"  A  vision  of  liis  father  often  appeared  in  his 
nightly  dreams."  Soon  after  the  death  of  her 
husband,  Nietzsche's  mother,  Franziska  Oehler, 
then  twenty-four,  moved  to  the  nearby  town  of 
Naumburg  to  live  with  her  mother-in-law,  Frau 
Dr.  Nietzsche,  and  two  sisters  of  her  late  husband. 
"  Here,  surrounded  by  feminine  influence  and 
guided  by  women's  hands,  Nietzsche  spent  his  early 
childhood."  "  He  became  somewhat  feminine  in 
his  habits,"  says  Dr.  Mugge,  whom  I  am  follow- 
ing closely,  sometimes  with,  and  sometimes  with- 
out quotation  marks. 

After  scarcely  a  year  at  the  Elementary  School 
at  Naumburg,  where  he  w^as  not  popular  with  his 
rough  school-fellows,  who  teased  him,  and  dubbed 
him  the  "  little  parson,"  he  entered  a  private 
Preparatory  School.  Here  he  remained  three 
years,  doing  good  work,  especially  in  religious  sub- 
jects, and  making  some  intimate  friends.  In  1854< 
he  entered  the  Grammar  School  of  Naumburg. 
The  Doctor  assures  us  that  his  hero  "  was  the 
perfection  of  a  well-mannered  boy,  and  never  did 
anything  naughty."  He  early  developed  a  taste 
for  military  games,  the  drama,  and  music.  From 
his  grandmother  he  heard  reminiscences  of  Na- 
poleon, for  whom,  despite  the  hardships  she  suf- 
fered because  of  him,  she  preserved  a  great  affec- 
tion. He  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  Crimean 
War,   repeating  many   of  the   movements   of   the 


90     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

armies  with  his  leaden  soldiers.  Nietzsche  gave 
a  good  account  of  himself  in  the  Gymnasium  or 
Grammar  School,  winning  the  praises  of  the  In- 
spector. He  was  given  a  six-year  scholarship  in 
the  famous  Landes-Schule,  Pforta,  called  by  Mr. 
Kennedy  the  "  German  Eton."  He  was  one  of 
two  hundred  boys.  The  masters  are  said  to  have 
been  able  and  kind.  Much  attention  is  said  to 
have  been  paid  to  the  character  of  the  boys.  Ath- 
letics had  no  part  in  the  life  of  the  school.  To 
an  English  or  American  boy  it  would  have  looked 
like  a  case  of  all  work  and  no  play,  with  an  ex- 
asperating amount  of  "  verboten "  and  goose- 
stepping  before  and  after  the  work. 

It  was  while  at  Pforta  that  the  music  of  Richard 
Wagner  came  into  Nietzsche's  life  for  the  first 
time,  and  completely  captivated  him.  At  one 
time  he  seriously  thought  of  becoming  a  musician. 
While  at  Pforta  one  of  his  pastimes  was  to  accom- 
pany on  the  piano  the  recital  of  the  poems  of 
Schiller  by  his  most  intimate  friend  Deussen,  after- 
wards professor  at  Kief.  Nietzsche  himself  com- 
posed many  pieces,  one  at  the  age  of  fourteen, — 
some  of  them  said  to  be  charming,  but  of  no  last- 
ing merit.  He  founded  a  literary  club  in  a  ro- 
mantic manner  at  a  romantic  spot  overlooking 
the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Saale.  His  favorite 
authors  at  this  time  were  Plato,  .Eschylus  and  the 
German  lyric  poet  Holderlin,  but  he  read  with 
interest    Tacitus,     the    Edda,    the    Niebelunger, 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE        91 

Shakespeare  and  Emerson.  He  was  poor  in  both 
Mathematics  and  Natural  Science,  attained  no 
skill  in  Gynmastics,  was  little  better  in  Swim- 
ming, but  was  strong  and  brilliant  in  German  and 
Latin.  He  received  his  first  conmiunion  in  1861, 
and  Deussen  speaks  of  a  feeling  of  rapture  which 
all  of  them  experienced  at  the  time.  His  class 
reports  speak  of  him  as  being  excellent  in  Re- 
ligion. 

From  Pforta  Nietzsche  went  to  the  University 
of  Bonn.  Here  he  won  the  friendship  of  Ritschl 
(whom  he  followed  to  the  University  of  Leipsic), 
who  is  said  to  have  been  a  great  factor  in  his 
intellectual  life,  and  through  whose  strong  influ- 
ence he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Classical  Phil- 
ology in  the  University  of  Bale  at  the  youthful 
age  of  twenty-five.  While  at  Bonn  "  the  quiet 
student  tried  to  transform  himself  into  a  beer- 
di'inking,  duel-fighting  youth."  Dr.  Mugge  would 
have  us  believe  that  these  strange  student  carouses 
"  have  a  healthy  and  elevating  influence  on  the 
youth  of  Germany  " ;  that  they  "  give  their  mem- 
bers a  powerful  education  of  a  manly  and  national 
character  " ;  and  he  calls  those  who  think  differ- 
ently "  calumniating  philistines  and  pedants." 
He  tells  us  that  Nietzsche  was  of  his  opinion,  and 
that  for  a  time  he  attended  the  almost  weekly  ca- 
rouse. "  But  his  interest  in  these  social  gather- 
ings slackened,"  the  Doctor  admits,  "  and  shortly 
after    leaving    Bonn    he    lost    all    touch    with    his 


9a      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

'  Burschenschaft '  .  .  .  a  daring  step,"  This 
gives  us  an  interesting  pec])  into  Dr.  Mugge's 
mind. 

It  was  while  a  university  student  that  Nietzsche 
wrote  to  his  sister  saying,  "  What  we  desire  i.s 
truth,  Truth  only,  even  if  it  be  something  most 
frightful  and  most  ugly."  Later  in  life  he  quoted 
with  approval  Stendhal's  dictum.  "  In  order  to 
be  a  good  philosopher,  it  is  necessary  to  be  dry, 
clear  without  illusion."  Possessing  these  quali- 
ties while  yet  a  student  (as  he  thought),  he  scru- 
tinized the  faith  of  his  childhood,  detached  its 
foibles  and  discarded  it,  still  adhering,  however,  to 
Christian  Ethics.  About  1865  he  fell  completely 
under  the  spell  of  Schopenhauer,  and  sucked  the 
black  teats  of  Pessimism  like  an  enfant  terrible. 
Before  going  to  Bale,  having  failed  to  get  exemp- 
tion on  account  of  near-sightedness,  he  fulfilled  the 
obligation  of  one  year's  military  service.  He  is 
said  to  have  gotten  on  very  well.  We  are  told  that 
he  did  not  "  cut  a  sorry  figure  "  on  a  horse ;  but 
while  mounting  his  horse,  a  few  months  after  he 
began  his  term  of  service,  two  pectoral  muscles 
were  torn,  inflammation  of  the  entire  muscular  and 
ligamental  system  of  the  upper  part  of  the  body  set 
in,  and  his  hfe  was  seriously  endangered.  Though 
incapacitated,  he  had  to  remain  in  Naumburg  to 
the  end  of  his  year's  service,  when  he  left  with  a 
lieutenant's  commission  in  the  Landwelir. 

Nietzsche  was  at  Bale  for  ten  years.      He  made 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE        93 

a  great  impression  by  his  youthful  brilliance  and 
by  his  ability  to  breathe  the  breath  of  life  into  the 
subject  matter  of  his  lectures.  His  resignation 
was  based  on  ill  health,  but  was  undoubtedly  due 
in  part  to  the  fact  that  his  love  for  philosophy 
swallowed  up  his  love  for  philology  and  to  his 
growing  impatience  over  the  thought  that  as  a 
})rofessor  at  Bflle  he  was  a  thoroughbred  harnessed 
to  a  plow. 

Apart  from  his  writings  the  more  interesting 
occurrences  connected  with  this  period  of  his  life 
are  his  service  in  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  and 
his  association  with  the  Wagners.  Nietzsche 
wished  to  defend  the  honor  of  Germany,  but  as  he 
had  become  a  Swiss  citizen  in  order  to  accept  his 
professorship,  he  could  only  go  to  the  war  as  a 
hospital  steward.  This  he  did,  but  was  soon 
stricken  down  with  dysentery,  which  sent  him  first 
to  the  hospital,  and  then  back  to  the  university, 
and  is  supposed  by  some  to  have  undermined  his 
health  permanently. 

Before  this,  however,  Nietzsche  had  been  re- 
ceived into  the  bosom  of  the  Wagner  family. 
Wagner's  country  house,  known  as  Triebschen, 
was  at  the  foot  of  Mt.  Pilatus.  His  wife,  Cosima, 
was  the  daughter  of  Liszt.  Wagner  called  her 
the  "  unique  one."  Despite  the  disparity  in  their 
ages,  Nietzsche  and  Wagner  became  devoted 
friends,  and  formed  a  mutual  admiration  society, 
into  which  Cosima  was  admitted,  and  from  which 


94      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

Wagner's  children  seem  not  to  have  been  excluded. 
Nietzsche  spent  the  Christmas  of  1869  and  also  of 
the  following  year  at  Tricbschen. 

"  These  days  were  the  great  noontides  of  the 
friendship  between  Wagner  and  Nietzche,"  says 
Dr.  Mugge.  One  is  tempted  to  think  that  they 
were  the  late  afternoontides,  so  quickly  were  they 
followed  by  a  terrible  twilight,  if  not  a  veritable 
Walpurgis'  Night,  brought  on  by  Nietzsche. 

In  187-i  Nietzsche  avoided  all  visits  to  Wagner. 
Tlie  breach  widens  rapidly.  In  1878  Nietzsche 
sends  Wagner  a  copy  of  his  "  Human,  All  Too 
Human,"  in  which  he  recants  his  expressed  adora- 
tion of  Wagner,  whom  he  had  called  Jupiter,  and 
Wagner  sends  him  a  copy  of  "  Parsifal."  The 
books  cross  in  the  mails.  Neither  acknowledges 
receipt  of  the  other's  gift.  From  this  time  on 
Nietzsche  attacks  his  old  friend,  mercilessly  annoy- 
ing him  like  a  jackal,  digging  up  the  bones  of  their 
intimate  friendship  and  gnawing  them  like  a  hy- 
ena, pecking  at  his  eyes  and  pulling  at  his  vitals 
like  a  vulture.  He  follows  up  "  Human,  All  Too 
Human  "  by  "  The  Case  of  Wagner,"  and  this 
b}'  "  Nietzsche  contra  Wagner."  He  compares 
Wagner's  orchestration  to  the  Sirocco.  He  writes 
to  Spitteler:  "  It  is  quite  natural  that  I  connect 
my  *  conversion  '  with  Carmen.  You  will  not 
doubt  it  a  minute  —  simply  one  more  malignity  of 
mine.  I  know  that  the  success  of  Carmen  excited 
Wagner's  wrath  and  envy."  He  calls  Wagner  a 
"  shrewd  rattlesnake,"  the  "  artist  of  decadence," 


an 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE        95 

"  old  thief,'"  an  "  old  magician,"  "  this  Cagli- 
ostro  of  modernity  !  "  He  parodies  and  pokes  ma- 
licious fun  at  his  operas.  He  writes :  "  We  now 
laugh  at  his  appropriation  of  old  legends  and 
songs."  He  sputters :  "  I  despise  every  one  who 
does  not  regard  Parsifal  as  an  outrage  on  mor- 
als." 

Can  lago  compete  with  it?  Can  Caliban  beat 
it?  The  disciple  Mugge  tries  to  explain  it  on  the 
ground  of  "  the  peculiar  prevalence  of  instinct 
and  sentiment  in  his  friendships."  The  disciple 
Kennedy  is  betrayed  into  suggesting  that  the  ex- 
planation of  this  "  immoderate  hatred,"  this 
"reckless  hatred,"  (as  Dr.  Mugge  is  forced  to 
call  it),  is  to  be  found  in  this  case,  as  in  the  case 
of  Schopenhauer,  in  Nietzsche's  "  sexual  feelings," 
which,  he  tells  us,  "  were  by  no  means  normal." 
But  can  any  explanation  at  all  satisfactory  to  a 
balanced  and  unbiased  mind  be  found  except  the 
explanation  that  the  Nietzscheanites  are  forced 
to  give  for  the  silly  note  addressed  by  Nietzsche 
to  the  widow  of  the  man  he  hounded  to  death,  and 
over  whose  grave  he  frothed  and  snarled  and 
yelped,  his  eyes  in  fiendish  frenzy  rolling  —  the 
note  reading  "  Ariadne,  I  love  you !  Dionysos," 
to-wit,  that  these  were  the  acts  of  a  madman?  I 
do  not  know  how  this  may  strike  a  would-be  philos- 
opher in  a  barrel  squinting  fiercely  at  human  life 
through  a  fang-guarded  bung-hole.  But  there 
cannot  be  the  least  doubt  how  it  will  strike  any 
person  to  whom  has  been  given  that  spirit  "  of 


96      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

power,  and  of  love,  and  of  a  sound  mind  "  of 
which  Paul  wrote  to  Timothy  and  of  which  a  man 
like  Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby  was  one  of  many  fine  ex- 
emplifications. 

Ten  years  elapsed  between  the  time  Nietzsche 
resigned  his  professorship  in  Bale  and  the  "  ter- 
rible moment  "  in  January,  1889,  when  Overbeck 
found  him  in  Turin  "  crouching  in  a  corner  of  a 
sofa,  reading  what  proved  to  be  the  last  correc- 
tion of  '  Nietzsche  contra  Wagner.'  "  Overbeck 
received  several  letters  from  Nietzsche  that  con- 
vinced him  that  his  friend  had  entirely  lost  his 
identity.  "  He  was  not  only  a  king,  but  the 
father  of  other  kings,"  Overbeck  went  to  the 
rescue.  Describing  his  meeting  with  Nietzsche  he 
writes :  "  He  saw  me,  and  recognizing  who  I  was, 
rushed  to  me  and  embraced  me  passionately ;  then, 
bursting  into  a  flood  of  tears,  he  sank  back  upon 
the  sofa  in  convulsions.  I  was  also,  through 
strong  emotion,  hardly  able  to  stand  upright. 
Did  the  abyss  upon  which  he  stood,  or  rather  into 
which  he  had  already  fallen,  disclose  itself  to  him 
at  that  moment?  At  any  rate,  nothing  of  this 
sort  was  repeated."  Further  on  in  the  letter 
from  which  I  am  quoting  Overbeck  says :  "  It 
appeared  that,  working  himself  up  at  the  piano  in 
loud  songs  and  frenzies,  he  brought  out  fragments 
from  the  world  of  thought  in  which  he  last  lived; 
at  the  same  time  short  sentences  uttered  with  an 
indescribably  muffled  tone,  he  babbled  of  sublime, 
wonderfully  transcendental,  and  unspeakably  hor- 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE        97 

rible  things,  regarding  himself  as  the  successor 
of  the  dead  god,  interspersing  the  whole  with 
interludes  on  the  piano.  Thereupon  followed  once 
more  convulsions  and  outbreaks  of  unutterable  suf- 
fering." Recovering  somewhat,  he  would  speak 
often  of  himself  as  "  the  buffoon  of  the  new  eter- 
nities," and  attempt  to  give  expression  to  his  rap- 
tures of  delight  "  by  means  of  fantastic  dancing 
and  leaping."  To  control  him,  says  Overbeck, 
was  a  matter  of  child's  play  "  as  soon  as  one 
entered  into  his  ideas  of  royal  receptions  and  en- 
tries, festival  music,  and  so  on."  That  is,  all  one 
had  to  do  to  be  completely  en  rapport  with  this  ex- 
traordinary lunatic  whom  Dr.  Mugge  calls  "  the 
reformer  of  the  world  "  was  to  get  down  and  crawl 
into  the  barrel  with  the  brilliant  buffoon  and 
squint  at  human  life  through  a  bung-hole ! 

Nietzsche  wrote  after  leaving  Bale,  "  What  re- 
mains to  me  of  life  shall  be  spent  in  giving  com- 
plete expression  to  that  for  which  I  still  endure 
life."  And  what  are  regarded  by  his  disciples  as 
his  most  important  contributions  to  philosophy 
were  written  during  this  last  decade  of  his  life  in 
which  he  was  suffered  to  go  at  large.  He  wan- 
dered about  from  place  to  place,  utterly  restless 
in  body  as  in  mind.  Cain  was  hardly  more  of  a 
vagabond  when  he  went  out  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord.  At  first  he  went  to  Naumburg  to  live 
with  his  mother.  But  she  annoyed  him,  Dr. 
Mugge  thinks,  so  he  went  from  place  to  place.  We 
hear   of  him   at   Venice,   at   Marienbad,   back   in 


98      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

Naumburg,  at  Lake  Maggiore,  in  Genoa,  in  Nice, 
in  Mentone,  but  most  frequently  at  Sils-Maria  in 
the  Engadine,  where  he  began  to  write  his  great- 
est work,  "  Thus  Spake  Zarathustra,"  and  which 
place,  we  are  told,  is  now  the  Mecca  of  Nietz- 
scheanites. 

A  description  of  Nietzsche  during  the  earlier 
part  of  this  period  by  a  friendly  critic,  Frau  von 
Bartels,  is  of  interest.  "  Every  day,"  she  re- 
lates, "  as  we  sat  in  the  dining-room  of  the  '  Os- 
teria  '  (which  was  merely  a  little  bit  of  roofed-in 
courtyard  with  a  fan-light),  a  gentleman  came  to 
our  table,  who  greeted  us,  and  ordered  his  dinner 
in  the  Venetian  dialect,  but  then  sat  mute.  We 
took  him  for  an  Italian ;  and  we  laughed  at  the 
oddit}^  of  his  being  at  our  table,  seeking  us  out 
and  yet  never  talking  to  us,  and  because  he  pre- 
sented such  a  singular  appearance,  with  short, 
white  linen  trousers,  black  coat,  extremely  thick 
mustache,  and  sad  brown  eyes  behind  thick  pol- 
ished glasses.  But  we  did  not  laugh  unkindly,  for 
we  liked  him,  and  missed  him  whenever  he  was 
late.  We  laughed  most  of  all  at  his  hair.  He 
wore  it  in  a  thick  natural  curl  which  formed  a  little 
acute  angle  on  his  forehead,  and  by  a  singular 
caprice  he  had  cut  off  the  extreme  point  of  it. 
But  next  day  it  appeared  to  be  growing  again ; 
on  the  day  after,  however,  it  would  be  cut  off  once 
more.  We  were  so  childish  that  even  this  made  us 
laugh ;  and  one  day  he  also  laughed  with  us,  and 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE        99 

talked  to  us  in  our  own  language,  and  that  was 
the  beginning  of  our  friendship." 

Nietzsche's  income  at  this  time  was  about  four 
thousand  francs  a  year,  three  thousand  of  which 
came  as  a  pension  from  the  University  of  Bale, 
and  the  balance  from  property.  But  he  lived 
most  abstemiously,  oftentimes  spending  not  ex- 
ceeding seventy-five  francs  per  month.  Some- 
times, however,  when  his  mother  sent  him  some- 
thing he  liked,  he  would  eat  till  he  was  sick.  He 
was  especially  fond  of  honey  in  the  comb,  and 
would  manage  to  eat  up  a  large  comb  in  three 
days.  At  times  he  would  lie  out  on  a  solitary  rock 
by  the  sea  in  the  sun  all  day.  Again  he  would 
climb  to  some  high  point  overlooking  one  of  the 
Swiss  lakes  and  sing  his  own  songs  so  loudly  that 
people  down  on  the  lake  could  hear  him. 

During  this  decade  Nietzsche  quarrelled  with 
his  sister  who  did  more  than  any  one  else,  perhaps, 
to  cheer  him  up  and  encourage  him.  He  objected 
to  the  man  she  proposed  to  marry  and  did  marry, 
because  he  thought  the  man  did  not  like  him.  He 
quarrelled  with  his  publishers,  and  brought  suit 
against  them.  He  quarrelled  with  Miss  Salome, 
who  came  to  him  as  a  devotee  of  his  philosophy, 
the  thing  he  was  longing  for.  He  quarrelled  with 
his  friends  Ree  and  Rohde,  and  others. 

He  quarrelled  his  friends  away  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  when  he  had  the  fourth  part  of  "  Zara- 
thustra  "  printed  he  could  only  dispose  of  seven 


100      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

of  the  forty  copies  he  had  struck  off.  He  quar- 
relled with  just  about  everybody  he  came  in  real 
contact  with  who  was  not  fool  enough,  or  good 
natured  enough,  to  get  down  and  crawl  into  the 
barrel  with  him.  Rohde  accounted  for  his  aliena- 
tion from  Nietzsche  on  the  ground  of  "manifold 
misunderstandings  and  the  inability  to  follow 
Nietzsche's  last  evolutions."  No  doubt  this  was 
the  case  with  many  others.  It  is  pathetic  to  hear 
him  cry,  "  O  Solitude,  thou  art  my  home !  "  But 
it  would  be  unfair  to  Solitude  to  give  all  of  one's 
sympathy  to  Nietzsche. 

To  "  deblatterate  "  (the  word  is  Stevenson's) 
about  Nietzsche's  love  of  mankind  to  one  who 
knows  anything  of  Nietzsche's  life  and  writings  is 
the  quintessence  of  nonsense  —  at  least  to  the 
world  outside  the  Nietzschean  barrel. 

And  yet  this  is  just  exactly  what  your  Nietz- 
scheanite  does  —  foolishly',  frantically,  frothingly, 
everlastingly.  GufF  is  their  god,  and  Nietzsche  is 
his  fanatical,  fin  de  siede  prophet.  "  O  Guff,  give 
us  guff,  that  we  may  become  creators  of  guff,  and 
give  guff  to  mankind  world  without  end."  So 
might  a  true  Nietzscheanite  sincerely  pray. 

A  true  Christian,  I  take,  is  one  who  accepts 
Jesus  Christ's  estimate  of  Himself,  and  takes  His 
teachings  seriously.  By  a  true  Nietzscheanite  I 
mean  one  who  accepts  Nietzsche's  estimate  of  him- 
self, and  takes  his  teachings  seriously.  It  is  per- 
haps only  fair  to  Dr.  Mugge  to  say  that  he  often 
takes  his  Nietzsche  cum  grano  sal,  and  then  some. 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NlETZSGilE      lOl 


II 

It  is  time  for  us  to  take  a  glance  at  the  literary 
outpourings  of  Nietzsche.  The  limits  of  this 
paper  forbid  that  we  do  more ;  and  it  may  not  be 
amiss  to  say  to  the  faint-hearted  that  it  has  limits 
—  possibly  far  withdrawn,  but  still  reachable  by 
one  who  uses  the  faith  and  the  food  of  an  Elijah  — 
it  has  limits,  for  I  am  not  speaking  in  Congress 
on  the  abortive  Ship  Bill. 

Dr.  Mugge,  to  whom  we  shall  be  mainly  indebted 
for  our  glimpses  into  the  works  of  Nietzsche,  di- 
vides them  into  three  distinct  periods  and  a  transi- 
tion period.  Perhaps  we  cannot  do  better  than 
follow  him  through  the  Nietzschean  labyrinth. 
We  may  be  quite  certain  that  in  doing  so  we  will 
be  in  the  hands  of  a  friend  —  a  friend  of  Nietz- 
sche; and  that  is  the  sort  of  guide  we  want. 

At  the  same  time  Dr.  Mugge  is  not  one  of 
Nietzsche's  totally  purblind  adorers.  No  doubt 
he  places  him  upon  a  very  high  pedestal,  if  not 
the  very  highest  upon  which  one  born  of  woman 
ever  stood. 

We  have  heard  him  speaking  of  his  hero  as 
"  the  reformer  of  the  world."  He  certainly  looks 
to  Nietzsche  to  save  the  world  from  the  "  refining 
and  yet  deteriorating  culture  "  of  Socrates  and 
Jesus  Christ. 

"  And  now  Nietzsche  has  come,"  he  cries,  ec- 
statically, with  uplifted  hands  and  expectant  eyes, 


102      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

like  some  Haggai  or  Malachi  or  Zephaniah,  at  the 
end  of  his  frank  and  interesting  if  somewhat  too 
pretentious  book  on  the  Life  and  Work  of  Nietz- 
sche. He  tells  us  that  "  Nietzsche  will  be,  if  only 
for  a  time,  and  for  the  few,  i/i^  philosopher  of  the 
future."  Woden  says :  "  In  these  Valkyries' 
valiant  virtue,  viewed  I  a  vent  from  impending 
doom."  That  the  gospel  of  Nietzsche  is  this 
vent.  Dr.  Mugge  seems  to  be  quite  convinced. 

And  yet,  in  his  Introduction,  he  says,  "  No 
doubt  Nietzsche's  works  are  full  of  faults  and 
phantoms.  No  doubt,  as  far  as  method  goes,  he 
was  not  at  all  a  philosopher.  No  one  denies  Nietz- 
sche the  philologist's  scholarly  attainments  and 
abilities ;  but  as  a  philosopher  he  had  not  the  same 
respect  for  stern  science,  and  he  became  a  philo- 
sophical Herostratus.  Perhaps,  even,  Nietzsche 
did  not  say  anything  that  has  not  been  said 
before.  Most  probably  only  a  small  portion  of 
what  Nietzsche  has  said  will  be  of  lasting  value. 
His  limitations,  contradictions,  and  follies,  his  ab- 
solute lack  of  sound  sociological  ideas,  of  common 
sense,  and  last,  but  not  least,  of  —  humour,  make 
many  of  his  books  wearisome." 

It  is  true  that  Dr.  Mugge  does  not  always 
please  all  of  the  Nietzscheanites.  The  ardent  au- 
thor of  "  The  Quintessence  of  Nietzsche,"  for  in- 
stance, waxes  righteously  indignant  when  the 
Doctor  says  that  Nietzsche's  brain  resembled  a 
"  prolate  cycloid  " ;  and  he  spatters  ink  at  him 
from  the  seat  of  the  scornful,  perhaps  not  with- 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE      103 

out  some  justification,  when  the  Doctor  indulges 
in  the  following  "  ultra-learned  expressions  "  in 
describing  Nietzsche's  position  in  the  realm  of 
Metaphysics:  "An  optimistic  Voluntarist,  with 
a  mystical  Dionysean  formula  of  stoical-teleologi- 
cal  origin, —  sometimes  termed  a  Neo-Heracli- 
tean." 

Nevertheless  I  am  persuaded  that  in  Dr.  Mugge 
we  shall  have  as  good  a  guide  through  the  Nietz- 
schean  labyrinth  as  it  is  possible  for  us  to  pro- 
cure. 

In  the  First  (or  Dionysean)  Period,  when 
Nietzsche  was  under  the  influence  of  Schopenhauer 
and  Wagner,  and  was,  according  to  Dr.  Mugge,  a 
pessimistic  idealist,  are  placed  "  The  Birth  of 
Tragedy  out  of  the  Spirit  of  Music,"  and  the  four 
volumes  of  "  Unseasonable  Contemplations."  Tlie 
first  of  the  "  Contemplations  "  is  a  trenchant  criti- 
cism of  David  Strauss,  in  which  he  is  spoken  of 
as  an  "  upstart  Philistine  "  w^ho  "  waddles  like  a 
hippopotamus  along  the  universal  highway  of  the 
Future,"  and  is  then  called  "  a  poor  inconsequent 
coward  "  because  he  lacked  the  courage  to  dis- 
card Christian  Ethics,  along  with  Christian  The- 
ology, which  the  logic  he  made  use  of  seemed  to 
Nietzsche  to  require.  The  second  of  these  "  Con- 
templations "  is  an  interesting  essay  on  "  The 
Utility  and  Harmfulness  of  History,"  which  lays 
down  the  dictum,  "  Before  all  things  a  man  ought 
to  learn  to  live,"  reminding  one  of  Emerson's 
essay    on    "  Self    Reliance."     The    third    is    on 


104      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

"  Schopenhauer  as  Educator."  In  it  we  are  told 
that  "  from  his  childhood  every  one  should  con- 
sider himself  as  the  servant  of  this  great  idea,  of 
this  last  aim  of  Nature,  the  production  of  the  Man 
of  Schopenhauer."  Schopenhauer's  hour  for 
damnation  had  not  yet  come,  but  it  came.  No- 
body's damnation  slumbered  long  before  the  judg- 
ment seat  of  Nietzsche.  The  volume  is  sugges- 
tive of  Carlyle's  "  Heroes  and  Hero-Worship," 
especially  when  one  comes  across  a  sentence  like 
this :  "  We  must  fight  against  everything  which 
stands  in  the  way  of  the  creation  of  great  men." 
Here  we  have  an  adumbration  of  Nietzsche's 
"  Superman."  The  sub-title  of  the  fourth  "  Com- 
templation  "  is  "  Richard  Wagner  in  Bayreuth." 
It  is  the  crescendo  of  Nietzsche's  hymn  of  praise 
of  the  great  composer  begun  in  "  The  Birth  of 
Tragedy."  And  this  hymn  of  praise  was  sung, 
6e  it  remembered,  although  Nietzsche  perceived 
that  Love  was  the  motive  of  all  Wagner's  works 
—  this  hymn  of  praise  which  was  to  be  succeeded 
by  chant  after  chant  of  hate,  and  last  of  all  by 
that  chant  over  which  the  crazed  Nietzsche  was 
gloating  when  Overbeck  discovered  him  huddled 
in  the  corner  of  the  sofa  in  Turin. 

In  the  Second  Period  Dr.  Mugge  places  three 
books  that  were  the  first  fruits  of  Nietzsche's 
emancipation  from  Schopenhauer  and  Wagner  and 
his  early  Idealism.  His  style  becomes  aphoris- 
tic. These  books  are  "  Human,  All-Too-Human," 
"  Miscellaneous    Opinions    and   Apothegms,"    and 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE      105 

"  The  Wanderer  and  his  Shadow."  The  last  two 
may  be  considered  sequels  of  the  first.  The  pre- 
vailing problem  in  Nietzsche's  mind  is  the  origin 
of  morals.  "  We  need  a  chemistry  of  all  moral, 
religious,  and  esthetical  conceptions  and  percep- 
tions," he  tells  us,  "  that  we  may  discover  their 
origin  and  constituents."  "  There  are  no  eternal 
facts,  no  absolute  truths."  "  All  our  valuations 
are  precipitate."  Apart  from  theology  and  its 
contentions,  it  is  obvious  that  the  world  is  neither 
"  good  "  nor  "  bad."  "  The  beast  in  us  wishes  to 
be  deceived.  Morality  is  a  white  lie,  which  saves 
us  from  being  torn  by  that  beast."  "  He  is  called 
'  good  '  who  easily  and  willingly  obeys  the  moral 
conventions,  to  whose  true  character  he  is  quite  in- 
different." "  Pleasure  is  essentially  neither  good 
nor  evil,  and  for  the  same  reason  wickedness  is 
quite  harmless.  It  is  only  consideration  of  the 
consequences  —  either  from  his  neighbor,  the 
State,  or  God  —  that  induces  man  to  abstain  from 
evil."  "  Moral  mankind  will  one  day  be  replaced 
by  a  wise  mankind."  "  One  would  soil  one's  in- 
tellectual conscience  if  one  tried  to  approach 
Christianity  in  any  shape.  No  rehgion  has  ever 
contained  a  truth.  And  between  religion  and 
science  there  is  neither  kinship,  friendship,  nor 
even  enmity;  they  occupy  different  planes." 
"  Christianity  is  now  an  empty  husk  without  right 
to  existence.  It  is  recklessly  immoderate,  Asiatic, 
petty,  and  barbarous."  "  The  most  serious  par- 
ody I  ever  heard  was,  '  In  the  beginning  was  non- 


106      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

sense,  and  the  nonsense  was  with  God,  and  the 
nonsense  was  God.'  "  "  The  prick  of  conscience 
is  as  foolish  as  the  bite  of  a  dog  on  a  stone. 
Conscience  is  not  the  voice  of  God,  but  of  other 
men  in  the  heart  of  man."  "  Success  sanctifies 
the  motive."  "  Only  he  who  has  brains  ought  to 
possess  property."  "  Socialism  is  not  a  problem 
of  right  but  of  power."  "  The  future  ideal  mar- 
riage in  which  the  wife  will  be  the  companion  and 
friend  in  the  highest  sense,  will  probably  necessitate 
the  simultaneous  institution  of  concubinage." 
*' '  And  forgive  us  our  virtues  ' :  thus  we  ought  to 
pray  to  our  fellow-men." 

You  may  not  like  these  apothegms.  Here  is  a 
prophecy,  buried  in  the  midst  of  all  this,  that  may 
be  more  to  your  liking:  "In  Europe,  at  least, 
the  barriers  between  different  nations  will  disap- 
pear more  and  more,  and  a  new  tj'pe  of  man  will 
arise  —  the  European."  I  could  quote  more  ac- 
ceptable aphorisms  than  some  of  the  above,  for 
Nietzsche  has  already  begun  to  give  himself  the 
lie,  but  those  quoted  represent  the  main  current 
of  his  thoughts.  Here  is  one,  in  parting,  with  a 
glimmer  of  humor  in  it,  whether  conscious  or  un- 
conscious :  "  Before  marriage  tliis  question 
should  be  put:  'Will  you  continue  to  be  satis- 
fied with  this  woman's  conversation  until  old  age.''  ' 
Everything  else  in  marriage  is  transitory." 

Two  books  are  placed  in  the  Period  of  Transi- 
tion, "The  Dawn  of  Day"  and  "The  Gay 
Science."     The  Superman  begins  to  loom  up  more 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE      107 

conspicuously  above  the  horizon.  "  When  our 
power  becomes  utterly  shattered  our  rights  cease ; 
and  similarly,  when  our  power  becomes  largely  in- 
creased, the  hitherto  acknowledged  rights  of  others 
cease  for  us." 

It  is  from  Nietzsche,  remind  yourself  just  here, 
not  the  German  Press  of  1914-15,  that  I  am  quot- 
ing. 

"  If,  as  one  definition  puts  it,  only  those  actions 
are  moral  which  have  been  done  solely  for  the  sake 
of  others  —  there  are  no  moral  actions !  If  only 
those  actions  are  moral  —  as  another  definition  de- 
clares —  which  are  done  spontaneously,  then  again 
there  are  no  moral  actions !  What  then  are  the 
actions  that  we  call  by  this  name.?  They  are  the 
results  of  intellectual  blunders !" 

There  is  a  passage  in  this  book  in  which  ex- 
pression "  the  sweet  malice  of  silence  "  occurs  that 
brings  to  my  mind  the  pathetic  picture  Overbeck 
gives  us  of  Nietzsche  at  the  piano  in  Turin. 

It  is  followed  by  a  fine  passage  like  this :  "  The 
man  with  a  nobly-framed  intellect,  who  is  at  the 
same  time  endowed  with  the  character,  inclina- 
tions, and  even  experience,  consonant  with  it,  is  a 
very  rare  but  delightful  being."  Quick  upon  its 
heels  comes  a  passage  like  this :  "  The  submis- 
sions to  morals  may  be  either  slavish,  vain,  self- 
interested,  resigned,  gloomily  fantastic,  thought- 
less, or  despairing;  but  in  itself  it  is  not  moral." 
Then  we  are  told  that  "  Neither  necessity  nor  de- 
sire, but  the  love  of  power  is  the  demon  of  man- 


108      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

kind !  "  He  returns  to  the  assault  upon  Chris- 
tianit}',  describing  its  death-bed.  He  speaks  of 
"  divine  cannibalism."  He  advises  us  to  close  our 
ears  to  the  miseries  of  others.  And  then  comes 
this  Emersonian  twang  of  the  harp  of  life  to 
which  many  an  experience  will  vibrate :  "  We 
should  do  away  with  beggars,  for  we  are  sorry 
both  when  we  do,  and  when  we  do  not  relieve 
them."     You   recall   Emerson's   "  dirty   dollar." 

"  The  Gay  Science  "  begins  with  this  declara- 
tion of  independence  of  Schopenhauer :  "  No ! 
Life  has  not  disappointed  me !  On  the  contrary 
every  year,  from  the  day  on  which  the  great  eman- 
cipation came  to  me,  I  find  it  richer,  more  de- 
sirable, more  enigmatical  —  the  thought  that  to 
the  enlightened  man  life  can  be  an  experiment, 
and  not  a  duty,  not  a  destiny,  not  a  deceit!" 
This  is  followed  by  a  statement  that,  were  it  true, 
would  almost  justify  Nietzsche's  career.  "  Up  to 
the  present  time  the  greatest  part  of  the  advance- 
ment and  progress  of  humanity  has  been  effected 
by  the  strongest  and  most  wicked  minds.  They 
arouse  society  when  it  becomes  slack;  they  force 
men  to  fight  for  their  opinions." 

That  there  is  an  element  of  truth  in  this,  I 
will  not  deny.  I  see  in  Nietzsche  a  brain-spat- 
tered, blood-stained  announcement,  stuffed  under 
our  noses  at  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth 
century,  that  the  Devil  is  not  dead.  Nietzsche 
is  almost  as  stimulating,  almost  as  arousing, 
as    the    Devil!     Or    rather    his    books    are,    for 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE      109 

the  man  Nietzsche  was  a  poor  chloral-cursed 
weakling,  a  pitiful  slave  everywhere  outside  his 
kingdom  of  Solitude.  I  would  give  the  Devil  his 
dues.  I  confess  a  debt  to  Nietzsche  —  for  salu- 
tary ethical  reactions. 

But  let  me  by  further  quotations  increase  your 
debt  to  him.  He  tells  us  that  "  Morality  is  the 
herd-instinct  in  the  individual."  "  To  regard  our 
European  ethical  system  from  a  distance,  to  com- 
pare it  with  other  systems  past  or  future,  a  posi- 
tion outside  ethics  is  necessary,  a  position  beyond 
Good  and  Evil  —  at  any  rate,  beyond  our  Good 
and  Evil.  We  must  try  to  get  such  a  point  of 
view.  ...  It  is  necessary  to  examine  for  once  the 
inherent  Value  of  ethics.  The  first  step  towards 
this  is  to  call  in  question  whether  they  have  any 
inherent  Value  at  all."  Almost  instantly  Nietz- 
sche decides  that  our  ethics  have  no  value  at  all, 
and  speaks  scornfully  of  "  the  finery  of  moral 
mummery."  Then,  sputtering  up  through  the  hole 
whence  flows  the  superfluity  of  Nietzschean 
naughtiness,  comes  this :  "  Corruption  is  only  an 
abusive  term  for  the  autumn  of  a  people.  What 
does  Life  mean.''  It  means  the  constant  remov- 
ing from  us  of  something  that  will  die  —  it  means 
that  we  should  be  cruel  and  inexorable  towards 
all  that  grows  feeble  and  old  both  in  ourselves 
and  in  others ;  it,  therefore,  means  also,  that  we 
should  be  without  reverence  towards  those  who 
are  dying,  wretched  or  old !  Always  to  be  mur- 
derers.''    Yet  the  ancient  Moses  has  said :     'Thou 


110      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

shalt  not  kill ' !  "  "  To  me  the  Magnanimous  One 
.  .  .  appears  as  a  man  with  the  most  powerful  de- 
sire for  reveng-e."  He  tells  us  (without  quoting 
authority)  that  "  God  is  dead."  He  follows  this 
up  with  the  assertion  that  "  the  astral  arrange- 
ment in  which  we  live  is  an  exception,"  again  with- 
out quoting  authority. 

He  tells  us  that  "  Sin  is  a  Jewish  invention  " ; 
that  "  A  Jesus  Christ  was  only  possible  in  a  Jew- 
ish landscape." 

Then  we  are  solemnly  told  that  "  To  laugh 
means  to  be  malicious."  He  asks :  "  What  in 
the  end  are  all  men's  truths  .'*  "  and  quickly  an- 
swers, "  They  are  men's  irrefutable  errors." 

He  would  have  us  believe,  on  the  strength  of 
his  "  The  mouth  of  Nietzsche  hath  spoken  it," 
that  crime  never  existed ;  —  which  sounds  like  an 
unsought  endorsement  of  "  Mother  Eddy." 

Then  he  sings  the  song,  the  chloral-choral,  that 
is  even  now  echoing  in  German  universities  and 
palaces,  the  mad  song  that  grows  ever  louder,  and 
for  which  Germany,  betrayed  by  her  captivated 
leaders,  has  sold  her  Christian  birth-right :  "  I 
greet  all  the  signs  announcing  that  a  more  virile 
and  more  war-like  era  is  beginning,  which  will 
again  hold  bravery  in  the  highest  honor !  .  .  . 
For  believe  me,  the  secret  for  gathering  the  fer- 
tilest  harvest  and  the  greatest  enjoyment  from  ex- 
istence, is  —  to  live  dangerously!  ^  .  .   .  We  cliil- 

1  Italics  mine.     I  thank  Nietzsche  for  this  phrase. 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE     111 

dren  of  the  future,  how  could  we  be  at  home  in  the 
present?     We  are  antagonistic  to  all  ideals  which 
could  make  us  feel  at  home  in  this  frail,  broken- 
down,    transition    period;    and    as    regards    the 
'  realities  '  thereof,  we  do  not  believe  in  their  dura- 
tion.    The  ice  which  still  bears  has  become  very 
thin ;  the  warm  wind  is  blowing ;  we  ourselves,  we 
homeless  ones,  are  helping  to  break  the  ice.     We 
preserve  nothing,  nor  would  we  go  back  to  any 
past  age ;  we  are  not  at  all  '  liberal,'  we  do  not 
labor  for  '  progress,'  we  do  not  need  first  of  all  to 
close  our  ears  to  the  market-place  sirens  of  the 
future  —  their    songs  :    '  equal    rights,'    '  free    so- 
ciety,' '  no  longer  either  lords  or  slaves,'  do  not 
allure  us !     We  do  not  by  any  means  think  it  de- 
sirable   that    the   kingdom    of    righteousness    and 
peace  should  be  established  on  earth  (because  un- 
der any  circumstances  it  would  be  the  kingdom  of 
the   profoundest   mediocrity    and    Chinaism) ;   we 
rejoice  in  everything  which,  like  ourselves,  loves 
danger,  war,  and  adventure,  which  does  not  make 
compromises,  not  let  itself  be  captured,  conciliated, 
or  defaced;  we  count   ourselves   among  the   con- 
querors ;  we  ponder  over  the  need  of  a  new  order 
of  things,  even  of  a  new  slavery ;  for  the  strength- 
ening and  elevation  of  the  type  '  man  '  always  in- 
volves a  new  form  of  slavery  .   .   .  Weakness  makes 
people  gentle,  ah,  so  gentle,  so  just,  so  inoffen- 
sive, so  '  humane  ' !     The  '  religion  of  sympathy  ' 
to  which  people  would  like  to  persuade  us  —  yes, 
we  know  the  hysterical  mannikins  and  girls  sufB- 


112      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

ciently  well  who  need  precisely  this  religion  at 
present  for  a  cloak  and  an  adornment.  We  are 
no  humanitarians ;  we  should  not  dare  to  speak  of 
our  '  love  to  mankind  ' ;  for  that  a  person  of  our 
stamp  is  not  enough  of  a  stage-player.  No,  we 
do  not  love  mankind." 

This,  this  is  the  "  insane  root  "  on  which  the 
Fausts  of  Germany  fed  before  they  sold  their 
souls  to  the  Devil.  This  is  the  food,  mutatis  mu- 
tandis, with  which  the  poor  Gretchens  of  Germany 
were  stuffed  before  they  laid  their  honor  in  the 
dust  at  the  feet  of  the  Krupp-crazed  Kaiser  Faust 
and  his  frenzied  fellows  and  rose  up  in  the  sight 
of  an  astounded  world,  with  their  filthiness  still 
disgustingly  fresh  in  their  skirts,  to  glory  in  their 
shame ! 

You  may  remember  that  Dr.  Mugge  proclaimed 
Nietzsche  as  "  a  lover  of  mankind."  Well,  there 
is  nothing  in  heaven  above,  the  earth  beneath,  or 
the  dark  places  under  the  earth,  that  is  not  claimed 
for  this  extraordinary  lunatic  by  one  or  the  other 
of  his  deluded  disciples.  One  had  as  well  argue 
with  the  whole  population  of  Bedlam  as  with  these 
gentlemen.  The  best  thing  to  do  is  to  bring  them 
to  book.  Demand  that  Nietzsche  be  placed  in 
the  witness-box  to  exhibit  and  speak  for  him- 
self; and  once  you  have  him  there,  force  him  to 
take  off  the  "  mask  "  that  he  is  not  ashamed  to 
confess  that  he  wears  when  he  comes  forth  from 
his  dark  Solitude  into  the  light  of  common  day ; 
if  he  hesitates,  give  him  the  tip  that  you  know 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE      113 

he  is  Dionysos  or  some  other  divinity,  and  lead 
him  by  a  string  of  nonsense  to  the  piano.  You 
will  not  be  disappointed  in  your  witness.  He  will 
foam  out  his  own  shame  furiously.  A  sufficient 
answer  unto  Nietzscheanism  is  the  real  Nietzsche 
thereof.  But  candor  compels  me  to  testify  that 
from  time  to  time  gusts  of  truth  come  through 
the  Nietzsche  bung-hole. 

We  come  now  to  the  last  period  of  Nietzsche's 
literary  career ;  what  Dr.  Mugge  calls  "  the  pe- 
riod of  Nietzsche's  own  peculiar  philosophy." 
Says  the  Doctor:  "He  gives  up  the  idea  of  a 
rationalistic  asceticism  and  begins  to  consider  In- 
stinct as  the  motive  power  of  development.  This 
Instinct  he  first  calls  '  the  Bent  to  Power  '  and 
later  '  the  Will  to  Power.'  Not  only  does  he  in- 
vestigate the  origin  of  morals  in  general,  but  he 
tests  also  existing  morals,  and  especially  Christian 
morals,  with  regard  to  their  effect  on  this  instinct 
and  on  life.  He  tries  to  replace  the  present  sys- 
tem of  morals,  as  being  contrary  to  all  instinct, 
by  a  new  and  better  system." 

The  Doctor,  who  was  residing  in  England  when 
he  wrote  his  book,  and  who  was  haunted  by  a 
shadow  of  English  Commonsense  that  sometimes 
troubled  the  pool  in  which  he  saw  with  loving  eyes 
the  face  of  his  master  reflected,  ends  up  his  intro- 
ductory note  to  this  period  with  this  confession: 
"  In  the  end  he  tends  towards  the  overestimation 
of  the  facts  of  the  case  and  the  qualities  of  the 
instincts,  and  finally  drifts  into  an  ethical  Nihil- 


114      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

ism."  This  is  perhaps  as  near  as  one  could  expect 
a  Nietzscheanite  to  come  to  placing  the  skull  and 
cross  bones  on  any  Nietzschcan  concoction  brewed 
before  the  dispatch  of  the  notes  to  Cosinia  Wagner 
and  Georg  Brandes.  One  could  hardly  expect  a 
Nietzscheanite,  no  matter  how  little  above  normal 
his  temperfature  might  be,  to  cry,  "  There  is  death 
in  the  pot !  "  For  the  love  of  Mike,  let's  be  rea- 
sonable !  I  say,  for  the  love  of  Mike,  because  Mike 
and  Nietzsche  are  about  the  only  two  left  in  the 
universe  at  this  stage  of  the  Nietzschean  War 
against  the  World.  God  is  dead.  And  Socrates 
and  Plato  and  Jesus  Christ  and  Richard  Wagner 
and  the  rest  have  been  tarred  and  feathered  and 
drummed  out  of  camp.  Only  Mike  and  Nietzsche 
are  left.  And  Mike  is  left  only  because  Nietz- 
sche has  not  seen  him.  IMike,  being  clothed  with 
Humor,  is  invisible  to  Nietzsche.  I  say,  For  the 
love  of  Mike,  let's  be  reasonable.  Besides,  we 
have  no  time  to  ask  for  further  concessions  from 
the  disciples  of  "  the  reformer  of  the  world." 

Let  me  bring  this  essay  to  a  close  with  the 
briefest  sort  of  a  glimpse  at  Nietzsche's  master- 
piece, "  Thus  Spake  Zarathustra,"  with  its  sub- 
title, "  A  Book  for  All  and  None,"  and  a  mention, 
at  least,  of  the  suggestive  names  of  the  other  books 
that  belong  to  this  so-called  greatest  period  of 
Nietzsche's  life.  In  the  light  of  what  has  gone 
before  we  can  see  the  light,  by  which  I  mean  the 
darkness,  for  the  light  that  is  in  it  is  darkness, 
without  sitting  up  all  night  to  watch  the  eclipse. 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE      115 

In  this  painful  period  there  is  little  if  anything 
brought  out  that  is  really  new,  even  from  the  Nietz- 
schean  viewpoint,  unless  it  be  the  bubbling  up 
through  the  sulphurous  mud  of  this  peripatetic 
poet-philosopher's  volcanic  mind  of  the  oriental 
doctrine  of  eternal  recurrence  about  which  he 
dogmatizes  with  the  same  assurance,  and  with 
the  same  absence  of  authority,  as  he  did  about  the 
death  of  God  and  the  behavior  of  the  remoter 
stellar  systems.  In  this  period  it  is  true,  in  the 
main,  that  what  humanity  is  furnished  with  is  only 
more  of  the  darkness  of  which  samples  have  al- 
ready been  given.  The  extraordinary  lunatic  only 
leaps  and  dances  more  frantically,  only  raves  more 
brilliantly,  more  egotistically,  more  pantheistic- 
ally  (in  the  Pan-German  sense  of  the  propagator 
being  the  whole  thing),  more  impishly  if  not  more 
diabolically. 

Despite  his  devil's-itch,  Nietzsche  never 
scratches  himself  deep  enough  to  become  a  serious 
rival  of  Milton's  Satan.  At  best  he  is  a  bookish 
devil.  His  bark  is  worse  than  his  bite.  Put  him 
to  the  test,  and  he  draws  in  his  horns,  puts  his 
tail  between  his  legs,  and  sneaks  off  to  his  lair  in 
the  Solitude. 

Nothing  is  more  pathetic  than  the  futile  at- 
tempt of  the  Nietzscheanites  to  palm  off  Professor 
Nietzsche,  their  diseased  and  bunged-up  idol,  on 
the  world  as  a  stalwart  physical  giant  who  re- 
joiced to  run  his  course.  The  wretched  sham 
would  be  detected  in  Texas  in  five  minutes,  and 


116      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

ought  not  to  deceive  for  long  any  man  anywhere 
who  knows  aught  of  the  glory  of  the  human  body. 
Nietzsche  sometimes  babbled  about  his  career  as 
a  soldier.  I  wonder  that  he  had  the  nerve  to  do 
this,  even  in  the  solitude  of  Germany.  Had  he 
done  so  anywhere  in  Texas,  the  Lone  Star  State 
would  have  shaken  itself  with  laughter  into  a  con- 
stellation of  states  when  the  word  got  about. 

Besides  "  Thus  Spake  Zarathustra,"  the  books 
that  belong  to  this  last  period  before  Nietzsche's 
total  mental  eclipse  are  the  following:  "Beyond 
Good  and  Evil,"  with  its  subtitle  of  "  Prelude  to  a 
Philosophy  of  the  Future  " ;  "  The  Genealogy  of 
Morals  " ;  "  The  Case  of  Wagner  "  ;  "  Nietzsche 
contra  Wagner  " ;  "  The  Twilight  of  the  Idols  " ; 
"  The  Antichrist  " —  an  attempt  at  a  criticism  of 
Christianity,  which  was  to  be  part  one  of  a  massive 
work  to  be  called  "  The  Will  to  Power."  An  au- 
tobiography entitled  "  Ecce  Homo  "  was  published 
after  his  death. 

It  would  be  interesting,  did  time  permit,  to 
quote  from  these  books,  as  I  have  done  from  the 
others.  They  are  extremely  quotable.  But  to  do 
this  would  only  be  to  pile  Pelion  on  Ossa,  and  this 
is  not  a  fair  thing  to  do  when  Ossa  rests  on  an 
empty  stomach,  and  when  a  score  of  men,  as  full 
of  matter  as  Job's  friends,  are  waiting  their  turn 
to  speak.  If  one  began  to  quote  from  these  books, 
one  would  find  it  hard  not  to  quote  at  great 
length.  And,  as  I  have  intimated,  it  is  not  really 
necessary  to  do  this.     We  have  already  had  a  fair 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE      117 

glimpse  at  the  remarkable  contents  of  Nietzsche's 
mind. 

But  I  must  quote  the  concluding  paragraph  of 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Forstcr-Nietzsche's  Introduction 
to  "  Tims  Spake  Zarathustra,"  for  it  is  illuminat- 
ing. We  shall  see  that  the  "  Thus  Spake  Zara- 
thustra "  of  Nietzsche  is  the  "  Thus  Spake  the 
Lord  "  of  the  Bible.  Nietzsche  first  antagonizes 
and  routs  all  other  teachers  and  prophets  and 
Christs  and  Gods,  and  then  takes  the  throne  and 
reigns. 

"  Already  at  the  beginning  of  this  history," 
says  Mrs.  Forster,  "  I  hinted  at  the  reasons  whicli 
led  m}^  brother  to  select  a  Persian  as  the  incarna- 
tion of  his  ideal  of  the  majestic  philosopher.  His 
reasons,  however,  for  choosing  Zarathustra  of 
all  others  to  be  his  mouthpiece,  he  gives  us  in  the 
following  words :  '  People  have  never  asked  me, 
as  they  should  have  done,  what  the  name  Zara- 
thustra precisely  means  in  my  mouth,  in  the  mouth 
of  the  first  Immoralist ;  for  what  distinguishes  that 
philosopher  from  all  others  in  the  past  is  the  very 
fact  that  he  was  exactly  the  reverse  of  an  im- 
moralist. Zarathustra  was  the  first  to  see  in  the 
struggle  between  good  and  evil  the  essential  wheel 
in  the  working  of  things.  The  translations  of 
morality  into  the  metaphysical,  as  force,  cause, 
end  in  itself,  was  his  work.  But  the  very  question 
suggests  its  own  answer.  Zarathustra  created 
the  most  portentous  error,  morality,  consequently 
he  should  also  be  the  first  to  perceive  that  error, 


118      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

not  only  because  he  has  had  only  and  greater  ex- 
perience of  the  subject  than  any  other  thinker  — 
all  history  is  the  experimental  refutation  of  the 
theory  of  the  so-called  moral  order  of  things:  — 
the  more  important  point  is  that  Zarathustra  was 
more  truthful  than  any  other  thinker.  In  his 
teaching  alone  do  we  meet  with  truthfulness  up- 
held as  the  highest  virtue  —  i.e.,  the  reverse  of 
the  cowardice  of  the  '  idealist '  who  flees  from 
reality.  Zarathustra  had  more  courage  in  his 
body  than  any  other  thinker  before  or  after  him. 
To  tell  the  truth  and  to  aim  straight:  that  is  the 
first  Persian  virtue.  Am  I  understood?  .  .  . 
The  overcoming  of  morality  through  itself  — 
through  truthfulness,  the  overcoming  of  the  mor- 
alist through  his  opposite  —  through  me  —  that 
is  what  the  name  Zarathustra  means  in  my 
mouth." 

You  shall  have  several  quotations  from  "  Thus 
Spake  Zarathustra  "  to  end  with :  "  And  verily, 
ye  good  and  just!  In  you  there  is  much  to  be 
laughed  at,  and  especially  your  fear  of  what  hath 
hitherto  been  called  '  the  devil  ' ! 

"  So  alien  are  ye  in  your  souls  to  what  is  great, 
that  to  you  the  Superman  would  be  frightful  in 
his  goodness ! 

"  And  ye  wise  and  knowing  ones,  ye  would  flee 
from  the  solar-glow  of  the  wisdom  in  which  the 
Superman  joyfully  batheth  his  nakedness! 

"  Ye  highest  men  who  have  come  within  my  ken ! 
this  is  my  doubt  of  you,  and  my  secret  laughter: 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  NIETZSCHE      119 

I  suspect  ye  would  call  my  Superman  —  a  devil !  " 

When  we  realize  that  the  overflowing  German 
scourge  of  1914  is  the  result,  in  no  small  measure, 
of  the  devotees  of  Nietzsche  to  carry  out  in  actual 
practice  Nietzschean  doctrine  as  they  understood 
it,  perhaps  this  suspicion  of  "  Zarathustra  "  is 
well-founded. 

"  Yea !  I  am  Zarathustra,  the  godless !  .  .  . 
Thus  spake  Zarathustra."  Who  doubts  it?  Not 
Belgium !     Not  France ! 

"  Thus  demandeth  my  great  love  to  the  remotest 
ones:  be  not  considerate  of  thy  neighbor!  " 

"  Sui'pass  thyself  even  in  thy  neighbor :  and  a 
right  which  thou  canst  seize  upon,  shalt  thou  not 
allow  to  be  given  thee !  " 

"  For  I  love  blood." 


VI 

THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  THE  UNIVERSE 

An  address  delivered  at  St.  Mary's  Hall,  Bur- 
lington, N.  J.,  June  1st,  1915. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  THE  UNIVERSE 

Your  Rector  is  a  lover  of  Poetry.  I  know  it, 
because  some  twenty  years  or  more  ago, —  a  little 
before  tlie  time  when  your  angels  in  heaven  were 
whispering  together  and  wondering  how  it  was 
going  to  feel  to  be  born  and  to  live  down  in  this 
world, —  I  sat  at  the  feet  of  your  Rector  on  a 
Tennessee  Mountain  —  I  had  almost  said  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration  —  to  study  Greek.  I 
am  afraid  I  did  not  learn  much  Greek.  Rut  you 
do  not  need  to  be  told  that  was  not  your  Rector's 
fault.  Perhaps  I  am  immune.  When  I  was  in  the 
Philippine  Islands,  where  they  raise  the  most  mag- 
nificent continuous  crops  of  mosquitoes  in  the 
world,  not  even  excepting  New  Jersey,  I  knew  an 
Army  Chaplain  who  was  immune  to  mosquitoes. 
They  never  bit  him.  They  never  sent  their  bills 
into  him  —  even  on  the  first  of  the  month.  He 
hardly  recognized  their  existence.  I  have  a  theory 
that  I  am  linguistically  immune;  and  this  theory 
is  very  little  if  at  all  shaken  by  the  fact  that  I 
have  in  my  possession  certain  certificates  that  used 
to  enable  me  to  say  to  troublesome  questioners, 
"  Don't  ask  me ;  I  have  passed  that."  Charles 
123 


124      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

Lamb  once  said  that  he  was  sympathetically  dis- 
posed to  harmony,  but  organically  incapable  of  a 
tune.  I  am  like  that  about  music,  and  I  am  al- 
most like  that  about  languages.  So  it  was  not 
your  Rector's  fault  that  I  did  not  learn  much 
Greek. 

But  I  learned  something  from  him  that  I  prize 
more  than  the  knowledge  of  Greek.  I  learned  to 
love  Poetry.  I  wonder  if  he  remembers  how  he 
broke  me  in  on  "  Lycidas,"  urging  me  to  read  it 
again  and  again,  and  good-naturedly  refusing  to 
take  my  opinion  of  the  elegy  until  I  had  read  it 
through  five  times,  and  how  delighted  he  was  when 
at  last  I  showed  signs  that  I  was  beginning  to  feel 
the  surge  of  Milton's  "  Sounding  Seas  "  and 
"  whelming  tide."  I  wonder  if  he  remembers  how 
he  used  to  read  and  explain  Browning  to  me  in 
the  little  house  just  a  stone's  throw  from  Miss 
Sarah  Barnwell  Elliott's  cottage,''  Anyway,  I 
know  your  Rector  loves  Poetry. 

Now  I  wonder  if  you  use  Ward's  English  Poets .'' 
We  did  at  Sewanee,  the  University  that  crowns 
that  glorified  Mountain  to  which  I  referred  a  mo- 
ment ago.  I  hope  you  do.  If  you  do,  in  the  four- 
starred  volume,  in  the  brief  biographical  note  un- 
der the  name  of  Sydney  Dobell,  the  name  of  Alex- 
ander Smith  is  mentioned.  It  is  the  only  mention 
of  him,  I  regret  to  say,  in  this  excellent  collection 
of  English  Poetry.  "  Poet  he  was  not  in  the 
larger  sense,"  perhaps,  if  we  may  apply  his  own 
words  to  himself.     And  yet  he  has  said  some  things 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  UNIVERSE      125 

that  were  well  worth  saying  in  language  beautiful 
enough  to  be  welcomed  as  a  permanent  fixture  in 
the  memory.     For  instance,  he  wrote : 

Books  were  his  chiefest  friends.     In  them  he  read 
Of  those  great  spirits  who  went  down  like  suns, 
And  left  upon  the  mountain-tops  of  Death 
A  light  that  made  them  lovely. 

He  also  wrote  the  following  lines,  which  furnish 
me  with  a  reason,  and  almost  the  only  reason  I 
have  for  accepting  the  kind  invitation  to  make  this 
address : 

The  saddest  thing  that  can  befall  a  soul 
Is  when  it  loses  faith  in  God  and  woman; 

Lost  I   those  gems  — 
Though  the  world's  throne  stood  empty  in  my  path 
I  would  go  wandering  back  into  my  childhood, 
Searching  for  them  with  tears. 

I  have  ventured  to  come  and  speak  to  you  to- 
day, not  because  I  am  fitted  by  my  training  to  do 
so,  but  simply  because  of  my  abounding  faith,  my 
old-time  boyish  faith,  my  ever  budding  and  bloom- 
ing and  sweet-smelling  faith,  in  God  and  woman. 
I  pinned  my  faith  to  them  in  the  beginning.  To- 
day it  would  be  impossible  to  count  the  number 
of  pins  by  which  my  full-grown,  untom  faith  is 
pinned  to  them.  I  say  this,  although  I  hear  the 
clamor. 

As  of  a  new-world  Babel,  woman-built. 
And  worse-confounded; 


126      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

although  I  see  the  inscription  written  over  the 
gate  of  her  "  University  "  by  command  of  the 
"  Princess  " : 

Let  no  man  enter  in  on  pain  of  death; 

and  the  ominous  epitaph: 

Here  lies  a  brother  by  a  sister  slain, 
All  for  the  common  good  of  womankind. 

My  faith  in  woman,  and  in  the  God  whose  exquisite 
handiwork  and  hand-maiden  she  is,  is  too  profound 
an  experience  to  be  shaken  by  the  window-smash- 
ing, picture-slashing,  teeth-gnashing  furor  of 
Feminism,     I  know. 

The  woman's  cause  is  man's :  they  rise  or  sink 
Together,  dwarf 'd  or  godlike,  bond  or  free ; 

and  I  know  that  the  cause  of  both  is  the  cause  of 
Him  who  made  them  "  like  in  difference."  And 
no  devil's  advocate  will  ever  persuade  me  to  be- 
lieve that  any  other  mood  of  the  "  Princess  "  than 
her  final  mood  is  her  normal  mood. 

I  am  going  to  speak  to  you  about  the  univer- 
sity AND  THE  UNIVERSE. 

Some  six  years  ago,  on  my  way  back  to  Amer- 
ica from  the  Philippines,  I  visited  England.  One 
of  the  most  delightful  features  of  the  visit  which 
teemed  with  interest  was  an  evening  spent  with 
Sir  Oliver  Lodge  in  his  home,  "  Mariemont,"  Edg- 
baston,  a  suburb  of  Birmingham.      He  was  then. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  UNIVERSE      127 

as  he  still  is,  Principal  of  the  University  of  Bir- 
mingham. He  was,  of  course,  the  Well-Known, 
and  I  the  Unknown,  but  he  welcomed  me  with  the 
comradery,  with  the  fine  spirit  of  good  fellowship, 
between  professor  and  student,  that  was  one  of 
the  charming  characteristics  of  my  own  Univer- 
sity, and  ought  to  be  of  all  universities.  You 
know  what  a  great  name  in  the  world  of  scholar- 
ship Sir  Oliver  Lodge's  is,  especially  in  the  so- 
called  scientific  world.  His  capacious  mind  seems 
to  be  intelligently  interested  in  every  thing  that 
is  of  human  interest.  He  has  written  a  book  on 
"  Modern  Views  of  Electricity,"  another  on  "  Elec- 
trons," another  on  "Life  and  Matter,"  another 
on  "  Signalling  Without  Wires,"  various  books  on 
Mathematics  and  Mechanics,  a  book  on  "  School 
Teaching  and  School  Reform,"  that  every  teacher 
ought  to  read,  another  on  "  The  Substance  of 
Faith  Allied  with  Science,"  which  he  calls  "  A 
Catechism  for  Parents  and  Teachers,"  many  ar- 
ticles on  Psychic  Research,  and  finally  and  of 
most  interest  to  me,  for  I  must  not  attempt  to 
mention  all  of  the  contributions  of  his  many-man- 
sioned  Christ-illuminated  mind  to  human  enlight- 
enment, a  book  that  appeared  the  winter  I  was  in 
England  published  under  the  title  of  "  Man  and 
the  Universe."  It  was  the  reading  of  this  book, 
the  sub-title  of  which  is,  "  A  Study  of  the  Influ- 
ence of  the  Advance  in  Scientific  Knowledge  upon 
our  Understanding  of  Christianity,"  that  in- 
creased my  desire  to  meet  Sir  Oliver  to  the  "  break- 


1S8      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

ing  in  "  point.  And  it  is  the  title  and  to  some 
extent  the  contents  of  this  remarkable  book  that 
suggested  the  subject  of  this  address. 

By  the  Universe  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  means  "  the 
Maker  of  Heaven  and  Earth  and  of  all  things 
visible  and  invisible."  In  "  The  Higher  Pan- 
theism "  Tennyson,  who  thought  in  the  light  of 
the  best  science  of  his  day,  puts  this  question.'' 

The  sun^  the  moon,  the  stars,  the  seas,  the  hills  and 

the  plains  — 
Are  not  these,  O  Soul,  the  Vision  of  Him  who  reigns  ? 
Is  not  the  Vision  He.^ 

This  question  Sir  Oliver  answers  with  a  strong 
affirmative.  The  Vision  is  He.  The  Universe  is 
God.  The  Universe  is  not  dead.  The  Universe  is 
a  living  and  breathing,  a  thinking  and  a  feeling 
Universe.  His  book  might  well  be  called  "  Man 
and  his  Relation  to  the  God  and  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ," 

So  when  I  speak  of  the  University  and  the  Uni- 
verse I  mean  the  University  and  God,  the  Uni- 
versity and  its  Relation  to  the  God  and  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

I  use  the  word  University  in  the  widest  possible 
sense,  including  in  it  for  the  purposes  of  this  ad- 
dress all  institutions  of  learning  whether  of  pri- 
mary or  secondary  rank.  St.  Mary's  Hall,  which 
has  the  first  place  in  our  thoughts  and  hearts 
to-day,  is  of  course  to  be  included.  Indeed,  it  is 
to  be  double-starred  in  our  consciousness. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  UNIVERSE      129 

What  then  is  the  relation  of  the  University  to 
the  Universe?  Before  answering  this  question, 
let  me  suggest  to  you  another  way  in  which  we 
may  think  of  the  Universe.  But  I  must  not  make 
this  suggestion  until  I  have  asked  you  not  to 
let  the  intimation  of  the  poet  or  the  affirmation 
of  the  scientist  slip  from  your  mind.  Lay  hold  on 
it!  Fix  it  in  your  memory!  There  is  a  great 
and  true  sense  in  which  the  Vision  of  the  Uni- 
verse is  God.  Do  let  this  thought  vitalize  and  in- 
tellectualize  and  characterize  and  familiarize  your 
Vision  of  the  Universe.  For  the  purposes  of  this 
address,  however,  it  will  be  more  edifying  for  us 
to  think  of  the  Vision  of  the  Universe  as,  not  ex- 
actly God  Himself  save  in  the  sense  in  which  the 
clothes  are  the  man  —  but,  the  engodded  garment 
of  God.  Not  just  the  garment,  mark  you,  but 
the  garment  in  which  God  is  now  garbed,  the  gar- 
ment within  which  God  actually  is,  and  in  which 
we  can  see  Him  move. 

Now  we  are  ready  for  the  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion. What  is  the  relation  of  the  University  to  the 
Universe.''  The  University  is  or  ought  to  be  to 
the  Universe  as  the  saline  drop  of  ocean  Avater  is 
to  the  ocean.  If  the  Universe  is  engodded,  in- 
spirited, so  ought  the  University  to  be.  I  put  and 
answer  a  conundrum.  When  is  a  University  not 
a  University?  When  it  is  misrepresentative  or 
unrepresentative  of  the  engodded  Universe.  When 
it  is  Godless.  WTien  its  God  is  an  absentee  God. 
When  in  response  to  the  forlorn  cry  on  the  campus. 


130     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

"Alma  Mater,  Where  is  now  thy  God?"  Echo 
answers,  "  Where?  "  and  no  other  answer  comes. 

We  speak  of  a  theist,  meaning  one  who  believes 
in  God.  We  speak  of  an  atheist,  meaning  one 
who  does  not  believe  in  God.  We  speak  of  a  Uni- 
versity, meaning  an  institution  where  the  high- 
est truth  concerning  the  Universe  may  be  learned. 
Perhaps  we  shall  one  day  come  to  speak  of  an 
ouniversity,  meaning  thereby  a  pseudo-institution 
of  learning  where  the  real  truth  concerning  the 
Universe  maj^  not  be  learned ;  or,  possibly,  if  the 
coinage  of  such  a  curious  word  be  unwarranted, 
we  may  come  to  speak  of  such  a  baleful  institution 
as  a  perversity,  or  even  an  adversity.  For  in- 
stance, instead  of  speaking  of  Girard  College  or 
University,  we  would  speak  of  Girard's  Perversity, 
or  the  Adversity  of  Gerard. 

A  University  not  permeated  and  saturated  with 
God,  and  illuminated  and  dominated  by  the  pres- 
ence of  God,  is  a  human  perversion  of  a  divine 
institution.  As  the  visible  Universe  without  the 
Spirit  of  the  Universe  is  not  the  real  Universe 
but  a  mere  shroud  thrown  over  the  remains  of 
that  which  was  once  informed  with  life  and  in- 
telligence, so  the  University  without  so  much  of 
the  Spirit  of  the  Universe  as  naturally  belongs  to 
that  portion  of  the  Universe  which  a  true  Uni- 
versity is,  is  what  Thomas  Carl3'le  would  call  with 
fine  contempt  a  Simulacrum,  a  Sham, — "  with 
about  the  same  relation  to  the  eternal  verities  that 
an  embroidered  pillow-sham  has  to  a  real  pillow. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  UNIVERSE      131 

As  the  drop  of  water  is  to  the  ocean  from  whence 
it  came  so  sliould  the  University  be  to  the  Uni- 
A^erse  —  an  infinitesimal  but  vital  and  faithfully 
representative  part. 

There  should  be  a  "  going  "  in  the  tops  of  the 
trees  of  a  real  University  like  that  heard  by  David 
in  the  mulberry  trees  that  would  speak  of  the  pres- 
ence of  God.  The  very  bushes  on  the  campus  of 
a  real  University  ought  to  be  able  to  speak  as 
plainly  of  God  as  did  the  burning  bush  that  Moses 
beheld  on  the  remote  mountain  side.  The  flowers 
that  grow  in  the  soil  of  a  real  University  ought  to 
witness  for  God  as  did  the  flower  of  whose  opening 
Linnaeus  wrote,  "  I  saw  God  in  His  glory  passing 
by  and  bowed  my  head  in  worship."  The  stones 
should  cry  out  of  the  walls  of  a  real  University, 
and  the  timber  beams  should  answer  them,  in  an- 
tiphonal  testimony  of  the  Spirit  of  Truth  without 
whose  presence  no  University  can  perform  the 
true  function  of  a  real  University.  The  lives  of 
the  members  of  the  faculty  of  a  real  University 
ought  to  be  epistles  Avritten  with  the  finger  of  God, 
and  so  plainly  written  that  even  a  freshman  could 
read  them.  One  ought  to  be  able  to  say  to  each 
and  every  one  of  them,  "  We  know  that  thou  art  a 
teacher  come  from  God,"  and  that  the  truth  that 
thou  teachest  is  not  partial  but  universal  truth," 
otherwise,  your  University  campus  is  little  better 
than  a  Valley  of  Dry  Bones,  and  its  buildings  but 
whited  sepulchres  with  the  smell  of  death  about 
them. 


132     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

If  one  were  to  ask,  How  much  of  God  shall  we 
have  in  our  Universities,  and  how  shall  we  have 
so  much  of  Him  as  we  ought  to  have?  I  would 
answer,  first,  That  of  course  no  University  could 
contain  Him  all  in  all.  Solomon  knew  that  his 
Temple  could  not,  and  we  know  that  not  all  the 
institutions  of  learning  in  the  world,  nor  yet  the 
world  itself,  could  contain  Him  all  in  all.  That, 
nothing  less  than  the  Universe  could  do.  But  I 
answer,  secondly.  That  the  great  and  gracious 
Spirit  of  the  Universe  has  so  expressed  Himself 
that  He  can  be  apprehended  by  human  thought 
and  gotten  into  human  institutions, —  somewhat 
after  the  same  manner  —  shall  I  say.''  —  in  which 
the  mighty  ocean  expresses  itself  in  the  drop  of 
ocean  water. 

Now,  apart  from  Poetry  I  do  not  believe  we 
ever  shall  understand  just  what  it  was  God  did  in 
that  great  act  we  call  the  Incarnation,  so  let  me 
turn  to  Tennyson  one  of  the  teachers  at  whose  feet 
I  delight  to  sit,  and  seldom  sit  in  vain,  for  an  ex- 
pression concerning  that  act : 

Tho'  truths  in  manhood  darkly  join, 
Deep-seated  in  our  mystic  frame. 
We  yield  all  blessing  to  the  name 

Of  Him  that  made  them  current  coin; 

For  Wisdom  dealt  with  mortal  powers, 
Where  truth  in  closest  words  shall  fail, 
When  truth  embodied  in  a  tale 

Shall  enter  in  at  lowly  doors. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  UNIVERSE      133 

And  so  the  Word  had  breath,  and  wrought 
With  human  hands  the  creed  of  creeds 
In  loveliness  of  perfect  deeds, 

More  strong  than  all  poetic  thought; 

Which  he  may  read  that  binds  the  sheaf, 
Or  builds  the  house,  or  digs  the  grave. 
And  those  wild  eyes  that  watch  the  wave 

In  roarings  round  the  coral  reef. 


Beyond  all  teachers  who  ever  taught,  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  Teacher  come  from  God.  He  is  the 
Word  of  God.  Beyond  all  teachings  His  teach- 
ings are  marked  by  the  element  of  universality. 
They  have  the  imprimation  of  the  Universe  upon 
them.  The  Truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  is  the  Truth 
for  the  University  because  it  is  the  Truth  of  the 
real  Universe.  He  is,  for  the  purposes  of  this 
world,  the  perfect  Symbol  of  the  Universe.  To 
know  Him  is  to  love  Him,  and  to  know  and  love 
Him  is  a  liberal  education  along  universal  lines. 
Mary,  the  sister  of  Martha,  received  a  liberal  edu- 
cation. It  is  written  of  her  that  she  sat  at  Jesus' 
feet  and  heard  His  word.  That  was  the  first 
Christian  College  for  Women.  There  was  no  bet- 
ter college  in  the  world  in  her  day,  nor  is  there 
in  our  day,  than  the  feet  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  His 
"  Well  done  "  is  the  most  honorable  degree  ever 
conferred  upon  man  or  woman.  One  of  the  great 
merits  of  that  College  is  its  simplicity.  There  is 
but  one  course  —  but  one  thing  is  needful.     If  you 


134     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

choose  that,  and  stick  to  it,  you  graduate  with 
honor. 

In  the  main  entrance  to  the  great  Johns  Hop- 
kins Hospital  in  Baltimore  there  is  an  heroic 
figure  of  the  Christ  that  beautifully  dominates 
the  hallway  in  which  it  stands.  In  Trinity 
Church,  Boston,  there  is  a  wonderful  statue  of 
Philhps  Brooks  done  by  St.  Gaudens.  The  fig- 
ure of  the  great  preacher  in  the  act  of  preaching 
is  itself  striking,  but  a  wealth  of  significance  is 
added  to  this  figure  by  that  of  the  Christ  which 
looms  large  just  behind  him  and  overshadows  him. 
In  every  true  University  the  Spirit  of  the  Uni- 
verse as  He  has  expressed  Himself  in  Jesus  Christ 
should  be  as  visible  to  the  eyes  of  the  mind  as  the 
figure  of  the  Christ  in  Johns  Hopkins  Hospital 
and  that  in  Trinity  Church  are  to  the  eyes  of  the 
body.  He  should  overshadow  and  dominate  every 
seat  of  learning  with  his  charming  grace,  his  all- 
embracing  sympathy,  his  sweet  reasonableness,  his 
intellectual  hospitality,  his  passion  for  social  jus- 
tice and  his  unbounded  and  valiant  love  of  the 
eternal  universal  Truth. 

How  is  this  to  come  to  pass? 

Just  here  let  me  put  in  another  good  word  for 
Poetry.  The  function  of  Poetry  in  human  life  is 
immense.  With  Matthew  Arnold  I  believe  in- 
tensely that  "  The  strongest  part  of  our  religion 
to-day  is  its  unconscious  poetry."  Apart  from 
Poetry, —  by  which  I  mean  not  merely  the  ex- 
pression but  equally  the  feeling  of  the  mystical  or 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  UNIVERSE      135 

romantic  element  in  the  life  of  the  human  spirit 
that  spends  a  few  brief  years  of  its  eternal  life 
in  these  earthly  bodies  of  ours, —  I  do  not  believe 
it  is  possible  to  understand  Jesus  Christ  in  His 
relation  to  the  Universe.  There  is  a  sense  which 
I  am  well-nigh  hopeless  of  the  salvation  of  prosy 
people.  Christianity  is  not  mere  addition  or  sub- 
traction or  multiplication  or  division.  Christian- 
ity is  a  glorious  Gift  to  the  Human  Imagination. 
The  Birth  and  Life  and  Death  and  Resurrection 
and  Ascension  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  Divine  Romance 
which  only  the  mind  of  God  could  conceive  or  the 
hand  of  God  write.  I  do  not  make  little  of  the 
historical  element  of  Christianity,  but  I  would 
make  much  of  the  poetical  or  romantic  element, 
because  without  this  latter  element  Christianity 
will  never  do  much  more  than  help  hobbled  human- 
ity craAvl  along  painfully  toward  the  City  of  God. 
But  under  the  spell  of  the  poetry,  the  romance, 
the  thrilling  spiritual  adventure,  of  the  religion 
of  Jesus,  humanity  will  sometimes  run,  and  some- 
times fly  on  eagles'  wings,  whither  Christ  has  gone 
before. 

So  I  stand  here  to  plead  for  the  poetic,  the  ro- 
mantic, yes,  let  me  say  it,  the  child-like,  element 
in  human  life  as  a  thing  that  is  absolutley  indis- 
pensable for  the  right  and  joyful  living  of  an 
aspiring  and  ascending  human  life,  and  therefore 
to  the  atmosphere  of  a  real  University.  When 
the  Master  said,  "  Except  ye  become  as  little  chil- 
dren ye   shall   in   no   case  enter  the  kingdom   of 


136     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

heaven,"  He  spoke  the  wisdom  of  the  ages  in  the 
terms  of  poetry.  We  almost  never  get  anywhere 
worth  being  except  as  we  are  led  on  by  the  child 
in  the  heart  of  some  man  or  woman,  some  boy  or 
girl.  There  is  a  "  little  one  "  within  the  human 
heart  that  it  is  well-nigh  unpardonable  to  offend. 
The  injunction,  "  Do  not  sin  against  the  child," 
applies  not  only  to  the  child  in  the  cradle  or  the 
child  in  the  street  but  equally  to  the  child  in  the 
heart.  There  is  a  bit  of  good  philosophy  in  Bar- 
rie's  "  Peter  Pan."  It  is  possible  to  kill  the  fairies 
by  disbelief,  and  there  are  fairies  of  the  human 
mind  that  it  is  almost  murder  to  kill  or  know- 
ingly to  let  die.  We  ought  at  all  costs  to  keep 
alive  the  child-like  in  ourselves.  Genius  has  been 
well  described  as  the  capacity  for  carrying  the 
feelings  of  childhood  up  into  the  powers  of  man- 
hood. We  sin  against  ourselves  and  society  and 
God  when  we  sin  against  the  child-like  in  ourselves 
and  others.  You  cannot  keep  Jesus  Christ  in  a 
childless  heart,  or  a  childless  University,  or  a  child- 
less world,  even  if  you  succeed  in  getting  Him  in. 
He  came  forth  from  the  presence  of  God  where 
He  ever  beheld  the  faces  of  little  children.  Where 
the  faces  of  little  children  are  never  seen  He  will 
not  long  abide. 

The  other  day  a  woman  asked  me  what  I 
thought  became  of  all  the  interesting  boys :  there 
were  so  few  interesting  men,  she  said  sadly.  I 
will  tell  you  what  I  think  becomes  of  them.  They 
nearly    all   die.     They   are   nearly    all   murdered. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  UNIVERSE      137 

"  Pity  'tis  'tis  true."  V^hat  I  mean  is  that  the 
poetic,  the  romantic,  the  idealistic,  the  heroic  ele- 
ment that  was  characteristic  of  the  boy,  and  ought 
to  have  been  carried  up  from  boyhood  into  man- 
hood, is  despised  or  feared  by  the  average  stupid 
man,  and  is  murdered  by  liim  as  the  young  princes 
were  murdered  in  the  Tower.  And  ever  after  the 
man  lives  a  life  not  much  above  the  level  for  human 
interest  of  a  lay  figure  in  the  show-window  of  a 
clothing-store  or  a  wooden  Indian  before  a  to- 
bacco shop. 

The  Youth,  who  daily  farther  from  the  east 
Must  travel,  still  is  Nature's  Priest, 
And  by  the  vision  splendid 
Is  on  his  way  attended; 
At  length  the  Man  perceives  it  die  away, 
And  fade  into  the  light  of  common  day. 

The  boy  knows  instinctively  that  "  Power  "  dwells 
not  in  the  light  alone,  especially  light  of  common 
day  but  sometimes  in  "  the  darkness  and  the 
cloud."  But  this  knowledge  is  oftentimes  too 
high  for  the  man.  The  boy  knows  that  if  he 
would  hitch  his  chariot  to  a  star  he  must  not  go 
to  bed  with  the  chickens,  but  must  stay  up  after 
sundown  and  venture  out  into  the  dark,  and  toil 
upward  in  the  night.  But  full  grown,  stuffed  to 
stupidity  with  worldly  affairs  men  often  fail  to 
attain  or  retain  this  knowledge. 

I  suppose  we  shall  never  want  to  return  to  the 
days  of  the  "  dim  religious  light."  W^e  shall  cer- 
tainly never  want  to  return  to  the  Dark  Ages. 


138      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

But  there  is  such  a  thing  as  having  too  much  of 
even  such  a  good  thing  as  light.  Every  mother 
knows  this.  Every  lover  know  this.  Every  artist 
knows  this.  Every  student  who  burns  the  mid- 
night Mazda  or  Welsbach  knows  this.  Every 
woman  who  puts  on  an  evening  gown  knows  this. 
If  anybody  has  doubts  on  the  subject  the  doubts 
can  be  instantly  removed  by  entering  a  gallery 
where  photographs  are  taken  by  glaring  tubes 
of  electric  light  and  observing  the  hideous,  ghastly 
look  on  the  face  of  the  person  who  sits  for  the 
picture.  Excessive  light  is  an  angel  or  agent  of 
darkness  and  ugliness  and  error. 

There  has  been  just  a  little  too  much  talk  for 
the  past  generation  or  so  about  seeing  facts  in  a 
"  dry  light,"  and  we  have  played  the  patient  fool 
too  often  and  sat  still  and  allowed  ourselves  to  be 
stuffed  to  suffocation  with  such  half-baked  mental 
food.  We  are  beginning  to  realize  that  there  are 
facts  of  the  first  importance  that  will  not  reveal 
their  secrets  in  a  "  dry  light."  We  are  beginning 
to  understand  that  there  is  an  appropriate  light 
for  every  fact,  whether  the  fact  be  a  scientific  fact 
like  color,  or  a  romantic  fact  like  love,  or  a  uni- 
versal Fact  like  Christ,  and  that  the  eternal  sig- 
nificance of  no  fact  can  be  seen  save  in  the  light 
ordained  by  God  as  the  appropriate  light  for  that 
fact.  We  have  always  known  that  we  had  to  re- 
spect the  fancy  of  a  woman.  Eve  taught  Adam 
that,  in  a  jifFy,  and  the  lesson  has  never  been  for- 
gotten.    We    are   beginning   to   understand    that 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  UNIVERSE      139 

we  must  respect  the  fancy  of  a  fact ;  and  that  one 
fact  may  fancy  a  "  dry  light,"  and  another  fact 
may  fancy  a  "  wet  light,"  a  light  saturated  with 
tears,  and  another  a  "  dark  room " ;  and  that 
nothing  is  more  unscientific  or  foolish  than  to 
attempt  to  dragoon  all  facts  into  a  "  dry  light  " 
and  to  force  them  to  unbosom  themselves  without 
regard  to  their  fancy.  We  are  beginning  to  un- 
derstand that  there  are  facts  divinely  beautiful 
and  eternally  true  that  can  never  be  rightly  seen 
or  understood  in  any  other  than  a  "  heavenly 
light  " —  the  light  that  was  never  seen  on  land  or 
sea  or  elsewhere  but  in  the  human  soul.  Imagine 
the  brutal  folly  of  dragging  a  woman  into  the  "  dry 
light  "  of  a  laboratory  and  trying  to  force  her 
eyes  to  send  out  their  love  light  to  be  observed  by 
some  pseudo-scientist  who  could  "  peep  and  botan- 
ize on  his  mother's  grave  " !  Imagine  the  brutal 
folly  of  dragging  the  Christ  into  the  "  dry  light  " 
of  a  laboratory  and  trying  to  analyze  the  light  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  that  suffuses 
His  face ! 

The  outraged  human  spirit  is  beginning  to  be 
bold  enough  to  say  to  all  comers  that  that  which 
robs  Earth  of  Romance,  and  scoffs  at  loyalty  to 
Ideals,  and  kills  Beauty,  and  knows  not  God,  is 
not,  cannot  be,  the  Truth;  cannot  be  what  men 
call  Science,  if  Science  indeed  means  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  revealed  or  discovered  Truth  of  the 
Universe. 
Now  I  have  a  deep  feeling  that  Poetry,  in  the 


140      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

sense  in  which  I  am  using  the  word,  is  coming  to 
its  own  again ;  that  a  new  Golden  Age  of  Poetry 
is  ahead  of  us.  And  I  am  profoundly  persuaded 
that  as  we  enter  into  this  glorious  age  Jesus 
Christ  will  more  and  more  enter  into  all  our  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  and  manifest  in  them  His  Di- 
vine Wisdom  and  Power  in  a  new  and  splendid 
way,  re-establishing  the  right  relation  between  the 
University  and  the  Universe,  making  the  Univer- 
sity a  vital  and  eloquent  witness  to  the  whole 
truth  of  the  whole  Universe,  and  sending  forth 
from  the  Universities  into  the  World  disciples 
aglow  with  His  Universal  ideals,  equipped  in  heart 
and  body  and  mind  and  soul  to  give  adequate  ex- 
pression to  these  ideals,  and  ready  to  perish  if 
need  be  in  the  godlike  task  of  levelling  the  high 
places  of  wrong-doing  and  entrenched  privilege, 
of  exalting  and  enlightening  the  low,  dark  places 
where  for  too  long  the  unprivileged  have  been 
forced  to  exist,  and  of  blazing  a  trail,  and  clearing 
a  way,  and  building  a  highway,  to  the  end  that  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  may  become  the  kingdom 
of  our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ. 

Behold,  upon  the  mountain  tops  in  yonder 
blushing  East  the  beautiful  feet  of  Him  through 
whom  this  blessed  consummation  is  to  be  brought 
to  pass!  Behold,  in  St.  Mary's  Hall,  hallowed 
anew  every  year  with  a  hundred  high  and  holy 
hopes  of  human  girlhood,  an  alabaster  box  of 
precious  ointment,  full  to  the  brim,  and  ready  for 
the  anointing  of  those  beautiful  and  blessed  feet ! 


VII 

LETTERS  TO  RADICALS 

To  the  Editor 

To  Mr.  Samuel  Gompers 

To  Mr.  Charles  Edward  Russell 

To  Mr.  J.  G.  Phelps  Stokes 

To  Mr.  John  Spargo 


LETTERS  TO  RADICALS 

To  the  Editor: 

Permit  me  to  record  tlirough  the  columns  of 
your  paper  my  profound  personal  protest  against 
the  harsh  and  hurried  sentence  of  Patrick  Quinlan 
to  serve  a  term  of  two  to  seven  years  in  the  State 
penitentiary  for  his  part  in  the  Silk  Workers' 
Strike. 

To  hustle  a  man  of  the  character  of  Patrick 
Quinlan  off  to  prison,  manacled  to  a  burglar,  to 
cause  his  hair  to  be  clipped,  and  his  finger  prints 
to  be  taken,  and  his  body  to  be  clothed  in  the  garb 
of  a  felon,  is  a  piece  of  absolute  injustice  that 
rankles  in  my  soul  like  a  poisoned  arrow,  and  of 
which  I  should  think  every  enlightened  citizen  of 
New  Jersey,  even  those  resident  in  places  where 
there  has  been  a  partial  eclipse  of  justice,  would 
be  thoroughly  ashamed. 

I  do  not  say,  I  am  not  in  a  position  to  say,  that 
Patrick  Quinlan  has  been  illegally  degraded  and 
stripped  of  his  human  rights.  Of  making  many 
laws  there  is  no  end,  and  many  of  our  laws  are 
wonderfully  and  fearfully  made  by  our  hasty- 
pudding  legislatures,  and  wonderfully  and  fear- 
fully and  inequitably  executed  by  our  courts, 
which  are  nothing  if  not  technical.  Judging  from 
143 


144     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

recent  happenings  in  Paterson,  he  must  be  indeed 
a  cautious  critic  of  his  times  who  does  not  in  some 
nice  point  offend  some  statutory  "  Thou  shalt 
not." 

It  may  be,  and  probably  is  true,  that  Patrick 
Quinlan  has  so  offended  —  that  his  legal  technique 
is  at  fault  —  and  that  therefore  his  sentence  to 
prison  is  not  wanting  in  legality,  and  looks  good 
to  narrow  judicial  eyes,  however  far  it  may  fall 
short  of  political  wisdom  and  ordinary  humanity. 

But  though  Patrick  Quinlan  may  have  so  acted 
as  to  bring  himself  within  the  outreaching  clutches 
of  uns^'mpathetic  hands  clothed  with  a  little  brief 
authority,  I  am  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  he 
is  not  the  kind  of  man  whose  proper  place  in  a 
civilized,  not  to  sa}^  a  Christian,  community  is  the 
prison.  I  am  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  the 
presence  of  Patrick  Quinlan  in  Trenton  Prison  is 
far  more  discreditable  to  all  those  who  had  a 
hand  or  voice  in  sending  him  there,  and  to  all 
citizens  of  New  Jersey  who  approve  of  the  harsh 
sentence  that  keeps  him  there,  than  it  is  to  Quin- 
lan himself.  I  am  strongly  of  the  opinion  that 
the  court  that  condemned  Patrick  Quinlan  to  serve 
a  two  years'  sentence  did  an  exceedingly  bad  day's 
work  for  the  damaged  reputation  of  our  American 
judiciary.  I  am  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  if 
Patrick  Quinlan,  now  dubbed  Convict  No.  2660, 
is  forgotten,  or  his  imprisonment  regarded  as  a 
good  riddance  of  one  who  "  stirreth  up  the  peo- 
ple," and  he  is  left  to  serve  out  his  term,  to  eat 


LETTERS  TO  RADICx\LS  145 

out  his  heart,  caged  behind  iron  bars,  not  only 
Paterson  but  the  people  of  the  whole  State  will 
have  a  severe  penalty  of  an  ethical  if  not  a  ma- 
terial character  to  pay !  Such  unbrothcrly,  not 
to  say  inhuman,  behavior  would  court  a  double 
penalty,  and  win  it,  perhaps,  when  the  under  dog 
of  today  has  his  day. 

I  have  watched  the  progress  of  the  Silk  Work- 
ers' Strike  in  Paterson  with  keen  eyes  from  its 
inception.  I  have  read  the  daily  reports  of  it 
in  the  Newark  Nezvs  and  the  New  York  Times, 
the  one  with  a  human,  the  other  with  a  capitalistic 
bias.  I  have  read  every  thing  about  the  strike 
I  have  been  able  to  lay  my  hands  on.  I  have  been 
in  Paterson  twice  since  the  beginning  of  the  strike, 
and  have  talked  with  responsible  citizens  whose  ac- 
tive sympathy  was  withheld  from  the  strikers  on 
account  of  the  leadership  of  the  strike  (who  as- 
sured me  that  the  sympathy  of  the  best  people  of 
Paterson  would  have  been  strongly  with  the  strik- 
ers if  they  had  had  wiser  leaders ) ;  and  I  have  also 
talked  with  those  whose  sympathy  with  the  strik- 
ers knew  no  bounds.  But  I  have  neither  seen  nor 
read  nor  heard  anything  that  would  lead  me  to 
believe  that  Patrick  Quinlan  is  a  bad  man  or  a 
dangerous  man.  The  Rev.  Percy  S.  Grant,  Rec- 
tor of  the  Church  of  the  Ascension,  New  York 
City,  one  of  the  best  known  and  most  highly 
respected  clergymen  of  the  Episcopal  Church, 
came  to  Paterson  during  Quinlan's  trial  and  tes- 
tified that  he  had  known  him   for  a  number  of 


146      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

years  and  believed  him  to  be  a  good  man  and  by 
no  means  an  undesirable  citizen.  Whether  it  is 
possible  by  petty  or  gross  persecution  and  con- 
tinued unfairness  or  injustice  to  make  a  bad  and 
dangerous  man  out  of  Patrick  Quinlan  I  do  not 
know.  I  trust  that  it  is  not.  At  all  events,  I  am 
confident  that  the  attempt,  conscious  or  uninten- 
tional has  not  as  yet  succeeded. 

That  Patrick  Quinlan  is  a  man  of  hot  blood, 
as  Patrick  Henry  before  him  was,  goes  without 
saying.  His  veins  are  full  of  good  red  Irish 
blood.  Such  a  man  feels  strongly  and  speaks 
strongly,  in  season  and  out  of  season.  At  the 
sight  of  unfairness  and  injustice  his  heart  beats 
wildly,  and  sends  the  blood  leaping  and  boiling  to 
his  brain.  It  is  not  only  unreasonable,  it  is  ab- 
surd, to  expect  such  a  man  to  choose  and  weigh 
his  words  when  he  stands  on  his  feet,  trembling 
with  emotion,  facing  a  great  multitude  of  his  fel- 
lows, whose  wrongs  have  been  wrought  into  the 
very  fibres  of  his  being.  Such  a  man  cannot  but 
often  speak  unadvisedly  with  his  lips.  As  the 
quality  of  his  mercy  to  those  he  knows  and  loves 
is  not  strained,  neither  is  the  quality  of  his  indict- 
ment of  those  through  whose  lack  of  mercy,  as  he 
sees  it,  his  friends  suffer.  But  there  is  no  class 
of  men  to  whom  the  world  owes  more.  The  saints 
themselves  were  neither  clams  nor  cucumbers. 
Their  hearts  often  grew  hot  within  them  and 
blazed  forth  in  searing  words.  "  God  smite  thee, 
thou  whited  wall,"  cried  Paul  in  open  court  to  his 


LETTERS  TO  RADICALS  147 

biased  judges.  Stephen  denounced  his  judges  to 
their  very  teeth  as  traitors  and  murderers.  John 
and  James  would  have  called  down  fire  from  heaven 
to  consume  the  Samaritan  village  that  refused  to 
receive  their  Master.  One  cannot  but  wonder 
what  their  fate  would  have  been  had  it  been  in  Pat- 
erson  and  not  in  this  less  panicky  Samaritan 
village  that  their  threatening  speech  was  made. 

I  confess  that  I  wish  Quinlan  were  a  wiser  man. 
I  have  small  sympathy  with  the  impossible  eco- 
nomic vagaries  of  the  movement  with  which  for  the 
time  being  he  is  identified.  I  trust  that  he  will 
come  to  repentance  and  a  better  mind  so  far  as  his 
social  program  is  concerned.  He  reminds  me  just 
a  little  of  the  big-hearted  blind  Irishman  who,  mis- 
taking the  odor  of  a  dead  horse  that  was  being 
hauled  past  his  house  for  that  of  one  of  his  un- 
fortunate fellow-beings,  dropped  in  behind  the 
wagon  and  followed  it  —  to  the  boneyard  !  But 
Quinlan  belongs  to  the  class  of  those  who  love  the 
under  dogs  of  our  present  unsatisfactory  indus- 
trial system  "  not  wisely  but  too  well."  I  honor 
him  for  his  warm  and  courageous  heart.  I  wish 
he  could  be  at  the  same  time  not  less  loving  or  less 
daring  but  more  temperate.  But  intemperate  as 
he  may  have  been  at  indescribably  trying  mo- 
ments during  this  strike,  I  am  strongly  of  the 
opinion  that  his  temperateness,  everything  con- 
sidered, compares  favorably  with  that  of  the  serv- 
ants of  the  law  in  Paterson.  The  strike  of  which 
he  has  been  one  of  the  leaders,  has  been  marked 


148      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

b}'  moderation,  not  by  excesses.  As  I  look  back 
upon  it,  the  self-control  of  the  strikers,  under 
great  provocation,  seems  marvellous  and  admir- 
able. This  is  certainly  true  so  far  as  actions  go, 
and  actions  speak  louder  than  words  to  those  fit 
to  govern  in  a  land  where  freedom  of  speech  is 
cherished.  "  Saying  it  ain't  doing  it,"  said  Tom 
Sawyer,  and  there  is  a  world  of  wisdom  in  the  say- 
ing that  the  Paterson  authorities  ought  to  take  to 
heart.  The  greatest  excess  committed  during  the 
strike  is  the  harsh  sentence  meted  out  to  Patrick 
Quinlan. 

An  English  court,  for  an  offense  no  less  grave, 
sentenced  John  Burns  to  only  six  weeks'  imprison- 
ment. On  Bloody  Sunday,  November  13,  1887, 
during  a  period  of  frequent  riots  in  England,  a 
great  meeting  of  the  unemployed  was  held  in  Tra- 
falgar Square,  although  the  holding  of  the  meet- 
ing had  been  expressly  prohibited.  All  London 
was  alarmed.  Both  infantry  and  cavalry  were 
called  out  to  assist  the  police.  Burns,  the  lead- 
ing spirit  in  the  demonstration,  defied  the  police 
and  even  broke  through  their  lines.  Of  course  he 
was  arrested,  but  his  punishment  was  not  two 
years,  but  six  weeks'  imprisonment.  The  judge 
before  whom  he  was  brought  had  common  sense 
enough  to  know  that  the  fact  that  John  Bums 
had  taken  a  leading  part  in  a  hot-blooded  pro- 
test against  the  conditions  from  which  his  fellows 
were  suffering  was  no  indication  that  he  was  a  man 
of  criminal  instincts  or  tendencies  and  a  menace 


LETTERS  TO  RADICALS  149 

to  society.  Since  this  incident  John  Burns  has 
served  many  years  with  distinction  on  the  London 
County  Council,  and  now  holds  a  responsible  posi- 
tion under  the  British  Government. 

It  is  a  shameful  sort  of  justice  that  has  sent 
Patrick  Quinlan  to  prison  for  a  term  of  two  to 
seven  years.  It  seems  all  the  more  shameful  when 
I  recall  that  seven  murderers  walked  out  of  Tren- 
ton Prison  the  day  after  Quinlan  entered  it,  one 
cold-blooded  murderer  to  return  to  the  very 
county  from  which  Quinlan  was  sent  up. 

I  am  sure  such  things  ought  not  to  be.  I  am 
sure  that  Patrick  Quinlan  is  not  deserving  of 
such  unfair  treatment.  Do  we  not  owe  it  to  our- 
selves as  well  as  to  him  to  undo  so  far  as  possible 
the  injustice  of  which  he  is  the  bound  victim .'^  I 
cannot  believe  that  either  Paterson  or  New  Jersey 
means  to  rest  in  injustice. 

Mercer  Green  Johnstox. 
July  25,  1913. 

University  of  the  South, 
Sewanee,  Tenn. 


615  Park  Avenue, 
Baltimore,  Md., 
March  8th,  1917. 
My  dear  Mr.  Gompers: — 

By  way  of  introduction,  I  venture  to  enclose  a 
copy  of  some  Resolutions  presented  to  me  on  the 
eve  of  my  departure  from  Newark  by  the  Essex 
Trades  Council,  the  engrossed  copy  of  which, 
greatl}'  prized,  hangs  in  my  study. 

I  had  hoped  to  meet  you  when  you  were  in 
Baltimore  during  the  A.  F.  of  L.  convention,  and 
made  several  unsuccessful  efforts  to  do  so.  I  had 
the  honor  of  sitting  at  table  with  your  wife  at  the 
luncheon  given  by  the  Women's  Trade  Unionist 
League,  at  M'hich  I  was  one  of  the  speakers.  I  am 
counting  upon  meeting  you  some  day  before  long 
and  talking  over  some  of  the  matters  of  great 
import  for  the  future  of  Labor,  the  Church,  and 
the  Nation. 

I  am  writing  now  to  say  how  deeply  interested 
I  am  in  the  Conference  of  the  spokesmen  of  organ- 
izer Labor  you  have  called  for  INIarch  12th.  I  am 
glad  you  have  called  such  a  conference,  and  I  like 
the  tone  of  your  Call  as  published  in  the  papers. 

The  activities  of  our  friend  Carl  Beck,  of  the 
so-called   Labor   Forum   of   New   York,  more   es- 
pecially in  connection  with  the  "  Proclamation  of 
150 


LETTERS  TO  RADICALS  151 

Working  People  "  he  has  recently  sent  out  broad- 
cast, have  been  a  cause  of  some  distress  to  me.  It 
is  my  belief, —  based  partly  upon  the  action  of  the 
Railway  Men,  saying  they  would  do  nothing  to 
embarrass  the  Government  at  a  critical  time,  and 
the  spirit  of  your  Call, —  that  this  Proclamation 
does  not  fairh'  represent  the  mind  of  Organized 
Labor  in  America.  Indeed,  I  think  it  grossly  mis- 
represents the  real  spirit  of  the  American  Federa- 
tion of  Labor,  both  in  its  attitude  towards  its  own 
mission,  and  in  its  attitude  towards  the  American 
Government.  That  document  is  tainted  with  Pac- 
ifism, and,  I  suspect,  with  Pro-Germanism,  its  twin 
brother  at  this  moment  of  history. 

Now,  as  I  understand  it,  the  working  philoso- 
phy of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  is  by  no 
means  pacifist.  The  Pacifist  pules  and  whines, 
"  Resist  not  evil."  Organized  Labor  shouts  in 
stentorian  tones,  "  Resist  the  devil  and  he  will  flee 
from  you."  In  my  judgment  the  philosophy  of 
the  Pacifist  will  asphyxiate  the  Labor  Movement 
if  it  is  accepted.  It  will  do  worse.  It  will  take 
the  "  guts  "  out  of  it.     It  will  kill  it  dead. 

Then  again,  as  I  understand  it,  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  is  genuinely  American. 
There  is  a  serious  question  in  the  minds  of  some 
of  us  who  call  ourselves  Socialists  whether  the 
Socialist  Party  is  genuinely  American.  If  it  is 
not,  so  much  the  worse  for  the  Socialist  Party. 
It  has  sealed  its  doom  here  in  America.  I  am 
myself  strongly  sympathetic  towards  sane  Inter- 


152     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

nationalism.  And  when  I  use  the  word  "  interna- 
tionalism "  I  know  what  I  am  talking  about.  I 
have  seen  men  of  almost  every  nation  face  to  face, 
and  I  have  seen  them,  to  a  very  large  degree,  on 
their  own  dung-hills.  I  look  forward  to,  and 
pray  and  work  for,  the  Brotherhood  of  Man,  or, 
if  our  Socialist  comrades  prefer  the  name,  the 
Commonwealth  International.  But  I  am  per- 
fectly certain  that  bad  Americanism  is  not  and 
never  will  become  good  Internationalism. 

Men  who  are  false  to  the  Red,  White  and  Blue, 
can  never  be  trusted  to  be  true  to  the  Red.  They 
will  be  then,  as  they  are  now,  "  fit  for  treasons, 
stratagems  and  spoils."  They  will  constitute  a 
sort  of  "  yellow  peril  "  under  any  flag,  under  any 
conceivable  form  of  government.  The  honorable 
course,  and  the  course  which  in  the  long  run  will 
win,  is  to  entertain  a  high  ideal  for  our  Country ; 
to  believe  that  our  flag  is  the  symbol  of  every  hon- 
orable aspiration  whether  of  Unionism  or  Social- 
ism —  of  real  Justice,  of  real  Liberty,  of  real 
Fraternity,  of  real  Equality  of  Opportunity ;  — 
and  then  to  strive  with  might  and  main,  with  clean 
hands  and  hearts  and  undaunted  spirit,  out  in  the 
open  in  broad  daylight,  with  faces  unashamed,  to 
make  this  high  ideal  an  actuality.  If  we  do  this 
we  will  advance  the  cause  of  the  Brotherhood  of 
Man  by  making  America  fit  to  play  an  honorable 
part  in  the  Family  of  Nations,  the  Commonwealth 
International.  Why  should  not  America  march 
into  the  Commonwealth  International  under  her 


LETTERS  TO  RADICALS  153 

own  chosen  Stars  and  Stripes,  as  a  self-respecting 
and  world-respected  Nation?  Unless  this  Com- 
monwealth International  is  composed  of  such  na- 
tions, the  day  of  its  arrival  will  not  be  a  Day  of 
God ;  it  will  be  a  Walpurgis  Night. 

I  trust  that  you  and  your  associates  who  have 
at  hand  the  great  and  worthy  interests  repre- 
sented by  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  will 
not  budge  an  inch  towards  any  action  that  at  this 
critical  moment  in  the  life  of  our  Nation  would 
give  just  cause  for  suspicion  as  to  whether  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor  is  genuinely  Amer- 
ican at  heart.  To  do  so  would  be  the  fatalest 
kind  of  a  blunder.  It  would  set  back  your  great 
cause  a  generation  or  longer. 

I  know  no  such  thought  is  in  your  mind;  but  I 
write  thus  earnestly  because  I  know  that  the 
Devil,  disguised  as  an  angel  of  light  and  leading, 
is  busy  putting  poison  in  the  pot  in  which  the  pot- 
tage of  wholesome  democracy  is  being  brewed  — 
the  kind  of  democracy  that  will  stand  the  wear 
and  tear  of  the  ages. 

If  at  any  time  you  think  I  can  be  of  service 
to  you  and  your  cause,  please  call  upon  me.  I 
shall  be  glad  to  do  what  I  can. 

Yours  fraternally, 

Mercer  G.  Johnston. 
Mr.  Samuel  Gompers, 

President  American  Federation  of  Labor, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


(Copy  of  Resolutions) 

essex  trades  council  of  newark,  n.  j., 
affiliated  with  a.  f.  of  l. 

Whereas,  the  Reverend  Mercer  Green 
Johnston  has  repeatedly  shown  his  interest  in 
and  friendship  for  those  who  labor  and  are  heavy 
laden ;  and 

Whereas,  His  activities  in  behalf  of  the  op- 
pressed, pursued  in  an  unselfish  disregard  of  his 
own  personal  interests,  have  greatly  aided  in  light- 
ening the  burdens  of  the  underpaid  and  over- 
worked.    Now  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  Essex  Trades  Council,  on 
behalf  of  itself  and  of  its  affiliated  organizations, 
do  now,  on  the  eve  of  Mr.  Johnston's  departure 
from  our  city,  express  to  him  our  sincere  appre- 
ciation of  his  friendship  and  wish  him  Godspeed 
in  his  new  field  of  labor ;  and  be  it  further 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  spread 
upon  the  minutes  of  the  Essex  Trades  Council,  and 
that  a  suitably  engrossed  copy  of  them  signed  by 
the  President  and  Secretary  and  sealed  with  the 
seal  of  the  Council  be  presented  to  Mr.  Johnston  as 
a  token  of  the  esteem  and  honor  in  which  we  hold 
him. 

William  J.  Brennan,  President. 
(seal)  Henry  F.  Hilfers,  Secretary. 

154 


March  15th,  1917. 
Mr.  Charles  Edward  Russell, 

1025  Fifteenth  Street,  N.  W., 
Washington,  D.  C. 

My  dear  Mr.  Russell: — I  want  to  thank  you 
for  your  two  letters  of  February  7th  and  13th 
published  in  the  New  York  Times.  I  took  much 
comfort  from  them.  I  am  one  of  those  Ameri- 
cans who  have  gradually  come  to  the  conviction 
that  our  present  social  system  is  working  too  much 
injustice  to  be  endured  much  longer,  and  must 
therefore  be  radically  altered. 

After  a  study  of  the  question  for  upwards  of 
twenty  years,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
economic  program  of  Socialism  contained  more 
of  promise  for  a  fair  future  for  our  Country  in 
its  length  and  breadth,  and  from  the  bottom  to 
the  top  of  our  population,  than  any  other  before 
the  world. 

At  the  close  of  a  somewhat  dramatic  rectorship 
of  Trinity  Church,  Newark, —  the  leading  Episco- 
pal Church  of  the  Diocese  of  Newark,  officered  by 
representatives  of  vested  interests  trebly  en- 
trenched,—  I  announced  myself,  for  the  first  time, 
as  a  Socialist.  Before,  I  had  spoken  of  myself 
as  one  with  strong  socialistic  convictions,  or  as 
155 


156      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

one  who  believed  profoundly  in  the  social  implica- 
tions and  application  of  the  Gospel. 

But  I  am  an  American.  I  am  a  root  and 
branch  American.  I  love  the  Flag  of  our  Country 
passionately.  To  me  it  is  a  holy  symbol.  I 
never  have  tolerated,  I  never  could  bring  myself 
to  tolerate,  wilful  disrespect  towards  it.  In  the 
Philippines  and  here  at  home  I  have  done  every- 
thing in  my  power  to  inculcate  love  and  respect 
for  the  Flag.  I  hate  the  cheap  talk  about  the 
Flag  being  the  mere  symbol  of  the  selfish  interests 
of  a  certain  class  of  our  fellow-citizens.  It  is  not 
the  symbol  of  the  Liquor  interests  because  it 
floats  above  some  saloon ;  and  it  is  not  the  symbol 
of  Capitalistic  interests  because  it  floats  in  Wall 
Street.  Thank  God  it  does  float  in  Wall  Street, 
for  I  know  that  if  Wall  Street  catches  the  vision, 
the  clear  full  vision,  of  the  Democratic  Ideal  of 
which  the  Stars  and  Stripes  is  the  symbol,  the 
wall  of  partition  between  the  proverbial  Wall 
Street  man  and  the  Just  Man  of  Habakkuk  who 
stands  for  brotherly  justice  for  all  men  from  the 
very  top  to  the  very  bottom  of  society  will  be 
broken  down.  I  could  not  for  a  moment  admit 
that  our  Flag  has  been  stolen  and  appropriated 
by  any  class  of  our  citizens.  To  do  so  would  be 
to  bring  the  charge  of  treason  home  to  my  own 
door.  For  I  would  have  been  a  common  traitor 
to  have  stood  by,  and  kept  my  head  on  my  shoul- 
ders and  my  skin  intact,  w^hile  such  hateful  rob- 
bery was  taking  place. 


LETTERS  TO  RADICALS  157 

Now,  the  question  is,  what  are  we  Americans 
who  are  convinced  that  there  is  great  good  in  the 
economic  program  of  Socialism  for  this  whole 
land  (for  the  rich  as  well  as  for  the  poor,  for  I 
know  by  the  confessions  of  his  own  mouth  that  the 
rich  man  needs  to  be  saved  from  the  insidious  in- 
roads of  excessive  wealth  upon  human  character 
as  much  as  the  poor  man  needs  to  be  saved  from 
the  brutal  effects  of  dire  poverty),  going  to  do  in 
the  face  of  the  un-American  (not  to  say  anti- 
American)  drift  of  Socialism  in  America?  I  take 
it  for  granted  you  read  the  article  by  A.  M. 
Simons  in  the  New  Republic  of  December  2,  1916, 
reviewing  the  last  campaign,  called  "  The  Future 
of  the  Socialist  Party."  If  you  have  not  read  it, 
you  ought  to  do  so.  You  probably  know  Mr. 
Simons  personally.  I  do  not.  He  speaks  of  him- 
self as  having  been  identified  with  the  Socialist 
Movement  for  twenty  years,  and  as  having  pinned 
his  hope  to  it.  He  says  that  the  Socialist  candi- 
dates were  largely  men  who  "  were  hopelessly  out 
of  touch  with  all  things  American  " ;  that  they 
were  "  utterly  ignorant  of  the  American  mind," 
etc.,  etc.  If  there  is  substantial  ground  for  the 
view  set  forth  in  this  article  —  and  I  had  already 
begun  to  fear  the  gathering  of  such  clouds  as  he 
speaks  of  —  it  seems  to  me  the  future  of  Socialism 
in  America  is  certain  to  be  "  bound  in  shallows 
and  in  miseries  " ;  as  indeed  it  will  richly  deserve 
to  be,  so  far  as  it  is  a  party  movement. 

We  have  just  had  a  little  out-cropping  of  the 


158     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

latent  un-Americanism  in  the  Socialist  Movement 
here  in  Baltimore,  followed  by  a  rather  vicious 
expose  by  The  Evenmg  Sun  of  the  "  dangerous 
teachings  "  of  some  of  the  local  Socialist  Clubs. 
My  friend  Miss  Elisabeth  Gilman  has,  I  think 
written  to  you  about  the  matter,  enclosing  a  copy 
of  the  paper.  We  have  been  wondering  whether 
anything  could  be  done  to  save  our  comrades  from 
the  fate  towards  which  some  of  them  seem  to  be 
rushing;  or,  which  is  of  even  more  importance,  to 
save  the  essential  ideals  of  Socialism  from  being 
dragged  into  a  dark  alley  and  clothed  in  a  cos- 
tume and  taught  to  speak  a  language  that  every 
decent  American  will  loathe  (as  he  ought  to)  and 
resolve  to  eradicate  from  American  soil. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  say  I  am  not  a  party 
Socialist.  I  had  about  made  up  my  mind  to  be- 
come one,  when  I  was  halted  by  Simons'  article. 
That,  taken  in  connection  with  my  own  recent 
observation  brought  me  to  the  decision  that  I 
would  postpone  affiliating  myself  with  the  party 
movement  until  the  dominant  forces  in  the  party 
were  less  irrational  and  more  American. 

I  have  no  fault  to  find  with  the  international 
hopes  and  aspirations  of  Socialists.  As  a  Chris- 
tian who  takes  the  Founder  of  Christianity  and 
His  teachings  about  the  Kingdom  of  God  on 
Earth  quite  seriousl}'^,  I  have  for  a  long  time 
breathed  freely  in  the  atmosphere  of  internation- 
alism or  universal  brotherhood.  But,  for  the  love 
of  Mike  if  not  of  America,  I  say,  let's  be  reason- 


LETTERS  TO  RADICALS  159 

able.  Bad  Americanism  cannot  be  or  ever  be- 
come good  internationalism.  Treason  to  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  is  not  the  sort  of  training  to 
fit  a  man  for  loyalty  to  the  Red  Flag  of  world- 
wide brotherhood.  The  man  who  is  careless  of 
personal  or  national  honor  now  is  not  the  sort  of 
man  who  will  inspire  trust  in  honorable  men  in 
any  future  state  of  society. 

This  is  a  long  letter  from  a  stranger;  but  my 
heart  is  full  to  overflowing,  and  your  letters  in 
the  Times  have  made  me  feel  that  we  are  not  alto- 
gether strangers.  I  know  how  busy  you  must  be, 
but  if  you  can  find  time  to  send  me  any  word,  I 
shall  appreciate  it  very  much.  That  speech  of 
Debs'  in  New  York  the  other  day  has  left  me  with 
a  sickish  feeling. 

Yours  fraternally, 

Mercee  G.  Johnston. 
IMr.  Charles  Edward  Russell, 

Washington,  D.  C. 


April  17th,  1917. 
My  dear  Mr.  Stokes: — 

The  Protest  published  in  the  New  York  Call  of 
March  24th,  1917,  about  expresses  my  mind  on 
the  subject  of  the  proper  attitude  of  a  SociaHst 
toward  the  War,  and  you  may  use  my  name  in 
connection  with  the  circulation  of  the  Protest  if 
3'ou  so  desire. 

I  am  sending  a  copy  of  the  Protest  to  the 
Living  Church,  asking  them  to  publish  it  in  whole 
or  in  part. 

With  kind  regards,  I  am, 

Yours  faithfully, 

Mercee  G.  Johnston. 
Mr.  J.  G.  Phelps  Stokes, 

88  Grove  Street, 
New  York  City. 


16U 


Baltimore,  Md., 
March  15th,  1917. 
My  dear  Mr.  Spargo: — 

I  suppose  you  read  the  article  by  A.  M.  Simons 
on  "  The  Future  of  the  Socialist  Party  "  in  The 
New  Republic  for  December  2,  1916,  in  which  he 
makes  the  charge  that  Socialism  in  America  — 
at  any  rate.  Party  Socialism  —  has  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  men  "  hopelessly  out  of  touch  with  all 
things  American  "  and  "  utterly  ignorant  of  the 
American  mind." 

The  article  made  a  strong  impression  upon  me: 
so  strong  that  it  decided  me  not  to  become  a  party 
socialist,  although  I  had  recently  said  in  a  public 
speech  that  I  thought  socialists  ought  to  unite 
with  the  party  and  that  it  was  my  intention  to  do 
so.  In  this  article  Simons  "  harped  my  fear 
aright,"  and  this  time  the  fear  got  the  attention 
for  which  it  has  been  clamoring.  The  fear  is  an 
old  fear,  based  upon  many  observations  :  but  as  a 
result  of  hearing  you  at  Sher^vood  Forest  and  of 
reading  several  of  your  books,  I  was  beginning  to 
feel  that  it  was  an  unworthy  fear.  And  now  the 
last  state  of  this  socialist  is  almost  worse  than  the 
first!  at  least  so  far  as  party  socialism  is  con- 
cerned. 

161 


162     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

I  am,  as  I  always  have  been,  an  intense  sort  of 
an  American.  I  still  believe,  as  I  have  always  be- 
lieved, that  it  is  altogether  possible  to  achieve  the 
highest  well-being  of  the  people  of  this  country 
under  the  Stars  and  Stripes  and  even  under  our 
present  Constitution  slightly  amended.  I  see  no 
antagonism  between  good  Americanism  and  good 
Socialism.  America  is  not  committed  to  any 
special  brand  of  economics.  She  would  be  just 
as  much  herself  with  the  economics  of  Socialism 
as  she  would  with  those  of  Capitalism.  I  am 
pleased  to  think  she  would  be  more  herself. 

At  no  time  when  I  have  thought  of  calling  my- 
self a  Socialist  has  it  occurred  to  me  that  there 
would  be  any  slightest  conflict  between  m}'  duty  as 
a  thoroughly  loyal  and  patriotic  American  and 
my  duty  as  a  good  Socialist.  Although  I  have 
been  thinking  more  or  less  socialistically  for  the 
past  tw^enty  years,  I  never  called  myself  a  plain 
Socialist  until  the  latter  part  of  the  past  year. 
When  I  decided  to  do  so,  if  I  had  suspected  that 
I  could  be  justly  accused  of  paring  down  my  loy- 
alty to  my  country,  right  then  and  there  I  would 
have  parted  company  with  Socialism. 

I  am  not  forgetful  of  the  International  phase 
of  Socialism.  I  not  only  have  no  objection  to 
that,  so  far  as  it  is  rational  and  sound-hearted,  it 
strongly  appeals  to  me  as  a  Christian  who  takes 
Jesus  Christ's  idea  of  a  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth 
quite  seriously.  But  my  brains  and  my  heart  tell 
me  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  or  the  In- 


LETTERS  TO  RADICALS  163 

ternational  Commonwealth,  will  be  built,  not  by 
men  who  are  unappreciative  of  the  best  to  be  found 
in  the  national  commonwealths  that  now  are,  and 
who,  because  of  that  failure,  are  ready  to  betray 
them,  but  by  men  who  loyally  do  their  best  to 
exalt  truth  and  justice  and  fraternity  and  liberty 
and  private  and  public  honor  in  the  States  of 
which  they  are  actually  citizens,  and  to  which  they 
are  under  obligations  only  less  great  than  the  obli- 
gations they  will  be  under  to  the  International 
Commonwealth  after  it  becomes  a  reality.  Unless 
the  International  Commonwealth  is  built  by  men 
of  real  honor,  and  upheld  by  such,  the  rottenness 
of  the  State  of  Denmark  in  the  days  of  Hamlet 
will  be  a  sweet-smelling  savour  compared  with  the 
rottenness  of  this  world  state.  The  man  who  does 
not  know  how  to  be  loyal  to  the  flag  of  the  state  of 
which  he  is  now  a  citizen,  will  never  be  loyal  to 
the  flag  of  any  far-off  dream  state  save  in  his 
dreams. 

My  international  hope,  as  an  American  and  a 
Socialist,  is  to  see  America  enter  the  Federation 
of  the  World,  the  International  Commonwealth, 
call  it  what  you  will,  as  a  self-respecting  and 
world-respected  nation,  this  respect  based  upon 
the  fact  that  she  really  loves  her  neighbors  as 
herself,  which  she  will  do  if  we  develop  a  standard 
American  whose  private  and  public  and  interna- 
tional life  is  dominated  by  the  Golden  Rule. 

I  judge  from  the  protest  you  sent  to  the  Emer- 
gency Committee  of  the  Socialist  Party  (I  saw  so 


164      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

much  of  it  as  was  published  in  the  New  York 
Times),  against  so  much  of  its  proposed  procla- 
mation as  favored  an  embargo  on  food  and  war 
munitions  that  you  have  yourself  been  troubled  by 
some  of  the  doings  of  some  of  the  influential  party 
Socialists.  In  this  case,  it  was  not  so  much  a 
question  of  its  lack  of  Americanism  as  its  excess 
of  pro-Germanism.  And  yet,  as  matters  have 
turned  out,  there  is  little  or  no  difference  between 
pro-Germanism  and  anti-Americanism.  If  mat- 
ters go  a  little  farther  in  the  direction  in  which 
they  are  now  going,  there  will  be  little  or  no  differ- 
ence between  Pacifism  and  anti-Americanism.  At 
this  moment,  when  all  that  can  be  said  in  the 
name  of  religion  and  socialism  has  been  said. 
Pacifism  and  pro-Germanism  are  Siamese  Twins. 
I  understand  that  ^'our  protest  was  successful.  I 
am  glad  it  was.  But  the  fact  the  committee  tried 
to  put  a  thing  like  that  over  at  this  time  goes  far 
to  justif}'  the  charge  made  by  Simons  in  his 
article. 

You  may  have  heard  of  the  little  flare-up  of  un- 
Americanism  we  have  had  here  in  Baltimore,  the 
responsibility  of  which  has  been  laid  at  the  door 
of  Socialism.  In  case  3'ou  have  not,  I  am  en- 
closing a  clipping  from  The  Evening  Sun  of  last 
Saturday  containing  an  account,  in  rather  vicious 
tone,  of  the  result  of  a  visit  to  some  of  the  Social- 
ist Clubs  and  meetings.  There  has  been  more  or 
less  about  the  matter  in  the  papers  almost  every 
day  for  the  past  week.      Cochran  published  a  let- 


LETTERS  TO  RADICALS  165 

ter  —  a  "  foolish  letter  "  the  editor  called  it  —  in 
which  he  came  to  the  defence  of  the  clubs  with 
heat  and  heart  but  with  scant  wisdom.  There  is 
little  room  to  doubt  that  we  have  here  in  Balti- 
more a  certain  amount  of  a  brand  of  Socialism 
that  is  simply  rotten,  rotten  with  un-Americanism 
or  pro-Germanism.  And  it  is  perfectly  idle  to 
try  to  ignore  this.  If  Socialism  is  to  succeed  in 
the  long  run  here  in  America,  this  rotten  stuff  has 
got  to  be  cut  out.  It  will  not  be  tolerated.  It 
ought  not  to  be  tolerated. 

It  looks  to  me  as  if  there  were  more  asininity  in 
American  Socialism  at  this  moment  than  in  the 
Socialism  of  any  other  country.  American  So- 
cialism is  up  in  the  air.  Sometimes  it  looks  as  if 
it  were  up  in  the  air  in  a  Zeppelin,  bound  for 
Berlin. 

If  this  war  was  to  be  stopped  by  Socialism,  the 
time  and  place  to  stop  it  was  1914  in  Germany.  I 
do  not  blame  the  German  Socialists  for  not  stop- 
ping it.  I  do  not  believe  they  had  the  power  to 
stop  it.  But  since  they  did  not  stop  it,  but  in- 
stead became  part  and  parcel  of  the  army  that 
marched  out  of  Germany  to  conquer  the  world, 
and  to  kill  all  who  opposed  them.  Socialists  just 
as  much  as  anybody  else,  it  is  sheer  stupidity  for 
Socialists  in  lands  threatened  by  this  army  to 
waste  Avind  talking  about  the  duty  of  a  socialist 
not  to  go  to  war.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Ameri- 
can Socialists  are  doing  most  of  the  talking  of  this 
sort.     One  hears  precious  little  of  it  from  Belgian, 


166     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

English,  French,  Canadian,  Australian,  Russian 
or  Italian  socialists ;  and  now  the  socialists  of 
Spain  are  demanding  that  their  country  take  ac- 
tion against  Germany.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
nine-tenths  of  the  talk  of  this  sort  one  hears  here 
is  rank  hot  air.  Let  the  war  be  brought  to  our 
very  doors,  and  let  our  American  socialists  realize 
that  they  would  fare  just  exactly  like  every  one 
else  at  the  hands  of  the  invaders,  and  this  sort  of 
superficial  spieling  would  promptly  cease. 

All  sensible  men  understand  that  it  is  one  thing 
to  take  honorable  action  of  every  conceivable  kind 
to  prevent  war,  but  quite  another  thing  to  stop  a 
war  once  it  has  begun.  So  far  as  my  reading  of 
history  goes  no  war  was  ever  stopped  by  hot  air. 

I  have  written  you  a  long  letter;  but  I  am 
greatly  troubled  over  the  present  trend  of  Ameri- 
can Socialism.  I  believe  there  is  in  the  move- 
ment that  goes  by  the  name  of  Socialism  a  great 
blessing  for  humanity,  and  for  that  part  of  hu- 
manity we  call  America.  But  I  am  beginning  to 
wonder  whether  American  Socialism  will  not  have 
to  have  a  new  birth  before  it  comes  to  its  own 
here  in  our  land.  If  the  present  organized  effort 
to  set  up  Socialism  in  America  gets  thoroughly 
stamped  with  anti-Americanism  or  even  un-Amer- 
icanism,  its  damnation  is  assured,  and  its  doom 
cannot  be  escaped. 

I  should  be  very  glad  to  hear  from  you  if  you 
can  take  time  to  write.     I  know  how  busy  you 


LETTERS  TO  RADICALS  167 

are,  but  I  want  to  keep  in  touch  with  you.     I  rep- 
resent a  body  of  thought  in  the  country  that  you 
party   Socialists   must  take  note  of  if  you  ever 
expect  to  reach  a  worthy  goal  here  in  America. 
With  cordial  regards,  I  am. 

Yours  fraternally, 

Mercer  G.  Johnston. 
Mr.  John  Spargo, 
Old  Bennington,  Vt. 


New  York  City, 
July  20,  1917. 
Mr.  John  Spargo, 

Old  Bennington,  Vt. 

My  dear  Spargo: — Your  letter  of  May  31st, 
telling  me  of  your  severance  from  the  Socialist 
party  brought  me  just  the  news  I  wanted  most  to 
receive. 

I  congratulate  you  with  all  my  heart  on  the 
step  you  have  taken  and  on  the  admirable  state- 
ment of  your  reasons  for  taking  this  step. 

I  have  been  trying  to  make  time,  in  the  midst  of 
my  preparations  for  a  long  absence  in  France,  to 
write  you  fully  about  the  matters  of  which  you 
spoke  in  your  letter  and  in  the  "  proposals  for  a 
new  party  of  progress,"  which  came  sometime 
later,  but  I  find  myself  forced  to  do  no  more  than 
send  you  this  short  letter,  on  the  eve  of  my  de- 
parture. However  I  want  you  to  know  of  my 
deep  interest  in  the  step  you  have  taken  and  in 
the  proposals  you  make.  Circumstances  will 
make  it  impossible  for  me  to  join  actively  with 
you  in  this  movement,  so  far  as  the  immediate 
future  is  concerned.  But  as  soon  as  I  get  back 
from  France  —  supposing  I  do  get  back  —  I  want 
to  see  you  and  confer  with  you  with  a  view  to 
throwing  myself  into  this  effort  to  present  the 
great  cause  of  Socialism  to  the  American  public 


LETTERS  TO  RADICALS  169 

in  a  manner  at  once  sanely  American  and  Interna- 
tional. 

With  cordial  regards  and  with  best  wishes  for 
you  and  your  cause  during  my  absence,  I  am 
Yours  fraternally, 

Merceu  G.  Johnston. 


VIII 

THE  AMERICAN  SPIRIT 

An  address  delivered  in  Trinity  Church,  New- 
ark, October  18th,  1914,  before  the  New  Jersey 
Sons  of  the  American  Revolution. 


"  Let  us  raise  a  standard  to  which  the  wise  and 
honest  can  repair.     The  event  is  in  the  hand  of  God." 

—  Washington. 

"  Observe  good  faith  and  justice  toward  all  na- 
tions; cultivate  peace  and  harmony  with  all;  religion 
and  morality  enjoin  this  conduct;  and  can  it  be  that 
good  policy  does  not  equally  enjoin  it.''  It  will  be 
worthy  of  a  free,  enlightened,  and,  at  no  distant 
period,  a  great  nation,  to  give  to  mankind  the  mag- 
nanimous and  too  novel  example  of  a  people  always 
guided  by  an  exalted  justice  and  benevolence." — 
Washington. 

"  The  foundations  of  our  national  policy  will  be 
laid  in  the  pure  and  immutable  principles  of  private 
morality.  .  .  .  The  propitious  smiles  of  heaven  can 
never  be  expected  on  a  nation  that  disregards  the 
eternal  rules  of  order  and  right,  which  heaven  itself 
has  ordained." —  Washington. 

"  Overgrown  military  establishments  .  .  .  under 
any  form  of  government  are  inauspicious  to  liberty." 

—  Washington. 


172 


THE  AMERICAN  SPIRIT 

Shakespeare  puts  these  fine  words  in  the  mouth 
of  one  of  his  characters  in  "  Coriolanus  " : 

I  do  love 
My  country's  good  with  a  respect  more  tender. 
More  holy  and  profound,  than  mine  own  life. 

I  would  not  speak  boastfully,  especially  in  times 
like  these  when  patriotism  is  being  tried  in  the  fire 
on  so  many  bloody  battlefields,  but  if  I  know  the 
spirit  within  me  that  often  makes  my  heart  beat 
so  wildly  and  sends  the  tears  to  my  eyes  when  I  be- 
hold with  my  mind's  eye,  and  muse  upon,  my 
Country,  I  could  make  those  words  my  very  own 
without  confusion  of  face  or  fear  of  it.  Doubt- 
less there  is  a  difference  between  religion  and 
patriotism,  but  in  my  own  case  it  would  be  difficult 
for  me  to  define  it.  Oftentimes  it  would  be  im- 
possible for  me  to  say  whether  the  emotion  that 
surges  in  my  heart  and  sways  me  is  religious  or 
patriotic.  Probably  the  correct  analysis  of  such 
an  emotion  would  show  it  to  be  the  product  of 
religion  saturated  with  patriotism,  or  vice  versa. 
It  is  a  never-ending  source  of  comfort  to  me  to 
know  that  the  "  Strong  Son  of  God  "  wept  over 
Jerusalem.  He  is  dearer  to  me  by  reason  of  those 
173 


174     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

tears  and  the  heartbreaking  words  that  followed 
them.  No  true  patriot  should  miss  the  joy  of 
knowing  the  Man  Christ  Jesus,  who  knew  so  well 
what  was  in  a  patriot's  heart. 

Holding  such  sentiments,  you  gentlemen  of  the 
New  Jersey  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  American 
Revolution  will  accept  my  words  at  their  face 
value  when  I  tell  you  that  I  am  altogether  glad 
to  have  your  patriotic  organization  again  within 
this  building,  whose  walls  once  echoed  to  the  drums 
and  fifes  of  a  band  of  men,  our  honored  sires, 
whose  hearts  God  touched,  and  into  whose  breasts 
He  breathed  the  breath  that  gave  this  Nation  a 
living  soul.  You  are  welcome  here  to-day,  and 
you  need  have  no  fears  of  wearing  your  welcome 
out.  When  one  crosses  the  threshold  of  a  Span- 
iard one  hears  the  hospitable  greeting,  "  Esta  es 
su  casa,  Senor  —  This  is  your  house.  Sir."  As 
rector  of  this  church  I  say,  "  This  is  your  house, 
gentlemen."  It  certainly  is,  for  it  is  your  Heav- 
enly Father's  house,  and  we  have  good  authority 
for  believing  that  in  so  far  as  we  are  His  what  is 
His  is  ours.  He  is  ever  ready  to  divide  with  us 
His  living.     Indeed,  all  that  He  has  is  ours. 

You  have  asked  me  to  speak  to  you  again.  I 
thank  you  for  the  opportunity,  for  my  heart  is 
surcharged  with  thoughts  that  deeply  concern  the 
"  general  welfare  "  of  tliis  Nation ;  this  Nation 
"  conceived  in  liberty  " ;  this  Nation  brought  to  the 
birth  by  the  blood  of  the  brains  and  broken  bodies 
of  those  whose  dear  memories  you  seek  to  keep 


THE  AMERICAN  SPIRIT  175 

green ;  this  Nation  established  to  "  secure  the 
blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  poster- 
ity," and  "  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all 
men  are  created  equal." 

The  beloved  Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby,  than  whom 
the  past  century  hardly  produced  a  nobler  ex- 
ample of  a  Christian  and  patriot,  used  to  say  to 
those  who  bade  him  hold  his  peace  when  at  the 
sight  of  some  wrong-doing  the  "  fire  burned  "  and 
his  heart  was  hot  within  him,  "  I  must  speak  or 
I  will  burst."  I  trust  that  I  am  not  wanting  in 
a  "  decent  respect  "  for  the  opinions  of  my  fellow- 
countrymen  who  by  virtue  of  their  offices,  whether 
in  State  or  Church,  are  charged  with  special  re- 
sponsibility in  times  like  these.  I  do  not  lightly 
set  aside  their  expressed  wishes.  I  have  read  and 
re-read  the  Thirty-ninth  Psalm,  beginning,  "  I 
said,  I  will  take  heed  to  my  ways,  that  I  sin  not 
with  my  tongue :  I  will  keep  my  mouth  with  a  bridle 
while  the  wicked  is  before  me."  But  over  and 
over  again  I  find  myself  in  the  perilous  condition 
of  Dr.  Arnold:  I  must  speak  or  I  will  burst.  So 
far  as  what  I  have  said,  or  shall  say,  concerning 
the  things  that  are  in  the  saddle  and  in  the  air  and 
in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men  everywhere,  needs 
apology,  that  confession  must  serve  as  such.  If 
more  need  be  said  let  it  be  this:  That  to  me  it 
seems  as  little  praiseworthy  for  an  American,  who 
is  the  real  thing,  to  be  a  "  dumb  dog  "  in  1914 
as  it  was  to  be  a  "  dumb  dog  "  in  1775  or  1861, 
let  the  consequences  be  what  they  may.     It  is  alto- 


176     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

gether  un-American  to  be  afraid  to  speak  aloud 
convictions  upon  which  one,  after  deep  dehbera- 
tion,  is  ready  to  act  irrevocably.  It  would  be 
damnable  treason  to  the  highest  hopes  of  America 
if  the  expectation  of  favors  to  come  were  in  any 
degree  responsible  for  this  dumbness. 

We  are  met  here  to-day  to  remind  ourselves 
that  this  is  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-third  anni- 
versary of  the  surrender  at  Yorktown  of  Lord 
Cornwallis,  an  Englishman,  to  General  Washing- 
ton, an  Englishman  re-born  an  American  six  years 
before  this  event,  and  to  think  such  thoughts  as 
are  suitable  to  such  an  occasion  at  such  a  time 
as  this. 

Let  me  speak  to  you  of  the  American  Spirit. 
Whence  came  this  Spirit?  Who  helped  to  bring 
it  into  being?  Who  were  its  enemies  and  who 
were  its  friends  in  the  beginning?  Just  what  is 
the  significance  of  this  Spirit?  Who  are  its 
enemies  and  who  are  its  friends  now?  What  is 
the  future  of  this  Spirit?  What  is  the  duty  of  its 
friends  and  lovers  to-day? 

This  Nation,  said  Abraham  Lincoln,  was  "  con- 
ceived in  liberty."  If  it  was,  and  a  large  part  of 
mankind  believes  that  it  was,  the  American  Spirit 
came  forth  from  God.  It  was  written  by  James, 
a  servant  of  God  and  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
that  "  Every  good  gift  and  every  perfect  gift  is 
from  above,  and  cometh  down  from  the  Father  of 
lights."  Surely  if  this  Nation  was  conceived  in 
liberty,  and  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all 


THE  AMERICAN  SPIRIT  177 

men  are  created  equal,  and  exists  to  the  end  that 
"  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for 
the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth,"  this 
Nation  is  a  good  gift  to  all  mankind,  and  comes 
well  within  the  meaning  of  St.  James. 

It  is  not  recorded  that  at  the  birth  of  the  Amer- 
ican Spirit  angels  sang,  "  Peace  on  earth,  good 
will  to  men  " ;  but  it  is  a  fact  that  at  its  concep- 
tion a  great  bell,  on  which  was  inscribed  "  Pro- 
claim liberty  throughout  all  the  land  unto  all  the 
inhabitants  thereof,"  was  heard  to  ring,  and  that 
its  joyful  sound  has  been  repeated  not  only 
throughout  all  this  land  but  throughout  all  lands, 
and  that  the  music  of  these  bells  brings  to  the 
minds  of  those  who  sit  in  darkness  and  the  shadow 
of  death  the  song  that  the  angels  sang  when  the 
Prince  of  Peace  was  born. 

Out  of  whose  loins  came  this  American  Spirit.? 
This  is  an  American  Question  that  every  genuine 
American  ought  to  be  able  to  answer,  and  about 
which  there  should  be  no  dissimulation.  What 
answer  shall  we  make.'' 

Before  setting  down  our  answer,  let  me  ask  a 
few  other  questions  that  have  a  bearing  upon  this 
answer.  In  what  man,  far  and  away  more  than 
any  other,  did  the  American  Spirit  incarnate  itself 
in  the  beginning,  and  make  itself  manifest  not  only 
in  the  American  Colonies  but  throughout  the 
whole  world?  There  is  only  one  answer.  But  for 
George  Washington  there  would  have  been  no 
American    Nation.     Well,    what    think    you    of 


178     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

Washington,  whose  son  was  he?  Under  what  flag 
was  he  born?  Under  what  flag  did  he  live  the 
first  thirty-three  years  of  his  life?  Under  what 
flag  did  he  serve  gallantly  prior  to  1775?  Surely 
no  one  would  say  that  Washington  w^as  a  son  of 
France,  or  a  son  of  Germany.  Surely  no  one  will 
deny  that  Washington  was  a  son  of  England.  In 
a  very  much  more  intimate  sense  than  Paul  was  a 
Roman,  Washington  was  an  Englishman  down  to 
the  day  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
signed,  and  he  never  ceased  to  be  proud  of  the 
blood  of  his  English  ancestors  that  flowed  in  his 
veins.  And  this  is  a  source  of  just  pride,  it  may 
be  said  in  passing,  shared  by  every  other  American 
who  has  the  right  to  it.  It  would  seem  that  no 
man  of  intelligence  could  expect  to  win  the  head 
or  the  heart  of  America  by  "  foaming  out  "  songs 
of  hate  against  England.^  Let  me  go  further 
and  ask :  Whose  sons  were  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  without  a  single  ex- 
ception? Undoubtedly  they  were  the  sons  of 
England  until  the  moment  they  put  their  hands  to 
that  paper  if  not  until  after  the  acknowledgment 
of  the  independence  of  the  Colonies  by  England 
seven  years  later.  Practically  every  drop  of 
blood  in  their  veins  was  English  blood.  Let  me 
go  on  and  ask,  Whose  sons  were  the  signers  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States?     To  this 

1  See  "  A  Chant  of  Hate  Against  England,"  by  Ernst 
Lissauer,  N.  Y.  Times,  Oct.  15,  1914,  republished  from 
Jugend. 


THE  AMERICAN  SPIRIT  179 

question  the  same  answer  must  be  given.  The 
signers  of  the  Constitution  only  ceased  to  be  Eng- 
lishmen when  they  wrested  from  their  short-sighted 
English  brethren  the  right  to  order  their  own 
affairs. 

Returning  to  our  question,  Out  of  whose  loins 
came  the  American  Spirit?  is  there  any  other 
answer  to  make  than  this:  That  the  American 
Spirit,  which  came  forth  from  God,  which  was 
"  conceived  in  liberty,"  came  out  of  the  loins  of 
England,  the  Mother  of  the  English-speaking 
race?  The  Declaration  of  Independence  is  just 
as  much  the  work  of  the  sons  of  England  as  is 
Magna  Charta.  The  War  of  the  Revolution  was 
just  as  much  a  war  between  brethren  as  any  of  the 
civil  wars  in  England,  or  our  own  Civil  War; 
and  so  far  as  incivility  is  concerned,  there  is  little 
or  no  choice  between  any  of  them,  and  if  there  is 
the  odds  are  not  in  favor  of  our  own  Civil  War. 

In  making  this  honest  confession,  which  it  would 
be  good  for  the  soul  of  every  American  to  make, 
no  claim  is  made  for  the  immaculateness  of  the 
nation  out  of  whose  loins  the  American  Spirit  came. 
I  am  laboring  under  no  delusions  as  to  the  short- 
comings or  the  overreachings  of  England,  any 
more  than  I  am  laboring  under  such  delusions  as 
to  America.  England's  history  written  by  her 
own  historians  is  an  open  book,  and  therein  her 
faults  are  fearlessly  set  down.  But  with  all  her 
faults,  with  all  her  backslidings  from  the  better 
way,  there  is  one  thing  that  cannot  be  denied  her 


180     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

by  those  who  are  intelligent  enough  to  read  the 
English  language,  and  honest  enough  to  acknowl- 
edge what  they  find  written  in  it,  and  that  is  that 
beyond  all  other  nations,  prior  to  the  birth  of  this 
Nation,  she  was  a  well-spring  of  human  liberty, 
and  that  it  was  through  her  that  God  gave  birth 
to  this  Nation  "  conceived  in  liberty."  If  before 
that  birth  could  take  place  it  was  necessary  that 
a  sword  should  pierce  through  her  heart  it  was 
not  the  first  time  that  the  giving  of  a  Divine  gift 
to  humanity  was  accompanied  by  such  an  expe- 
rience. 

In  answering  the  question,  Whence  came  the 
American  Spirit .^^  answer  has  already  been  made 
in  part  to  the  question,  Who  helped  to  bring  this 
Spirit  into  being.?  But  several  things  remain  to 
be  said.  It  is  unquestionably  true  that  the  events 
which  led  up  to  the  Revolution,  and  the  Revolu- 
tion itself,  which  brought  the  American  Spirit 
into  being,  were  in  the  main  what  might  be  called 
family  affairs  of  those  who  dwelt  under  the  British 
flag  and  who  spoke  the  English  language.  In  the 
very  document  that  declared  America's  independ- 
ence of  England  the  expression  "  our  British  breth- 
ren "  occurs,  and  no  American  who  comprehends 
and  cherishes  the  best  American  traditions  and 
ideals  is  disturbed  by  the  fraternal  acknowledg- 
ment. Nevertheless  the  fact  must  not  be  lost  sight 
of  that  Holland,  France  and  Germany  made  minor 
contributions  to  the  population  of  the  British 
Colonies   which   afterwards   became   the   Thirteen 


THE  AMERICAN  SPIRIT  181 

American  States,  and  that  these  elements,  before 
they  were  entirely  Anglicized,  helped  measurably 
to  bring  the  American  Spirit  into  being,  and  be- 
came a  part  of  the  real  American  people.  But 
such  help  as  they  rendered  was  of  a  comparatively 
humble  sort.  Philip  Schuyler,  of  Dutch  descent, 
is  the  only  man  not  of  English  descent  ^  among 
the  Colonists  who  took  anything  like  an  important 
part  in  the  Revolution.  Out  of  the  very  loins  of 
England  came  the  strong  men  who  led  in  the  re- 
sistance to  the  encroachment  upon  their  rights  as 
Englishmen  that  resulted  in  the  birth  of  this  Na- 
tion. The  two  leading  Colonics  in  this  bold  busi- 
ness were  Virginia  and  Massachusetts  and  a  glance 
at  the  map  will  show  what  a  firm  hold  on  the  hearts 
of  the  people  of  these  Colonies  England  had.  The 
names  of  the  counties  and  rivers  and  older  cities 
and  towns  are  English  to  the  last  degree.  York- 
town,  on  the  York  River,  York  County,  Virginia, 
is  a  fair  sample.  Essex,  Middlesex,  Norfolk, 
Plymouth,  Bristol,  Worcester,  Hampshire,  Hamp- 
den and  Berkshire  —  so  run  the  names  of  the  coun- 
ties of  Massachusetts. 2     The  first  Americans  were 

1  The  speaker  is  of  Scotch-Irish  descent.  His  paternal 
ancestor  came  to  America  from  Scotland  about  1727.  It 
need  hardly  be  said  that  the  words  England  and  English 
are  not  used  in  an  exclusive  sense,  but  include  at  least  all 
of  Great  Britain. 

2  In  the  list  of  the  100  largest  American  cities  the  only 
names  that  appear  are  English,  Indian,  French  and  Spanish. 
The  only  exceptions  seem  to  be  such  names  as  Philadelphia, 
Memphis,  Troy,  etc.,  for  which  Americans  of  English  de- 
scent are  responsible,  and  Schenectady,  named  by  Ameri- 
cans of  Dutch  descent. 


182     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

all  British  b,v  birth  or  by  adoption.  The  Dutch, 
the  French,  the  Germans  in  America  were  all  Brit- 
ish, and  contentedly  so,  before  they  were  Ameri- 
cans. 

Who  were  the  enemies,  and  who  were  the  friends 
of  the  American  Spirit  in  the  beginning?  The 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  leveled  at  the 
head  of  George  III,  of  the  House  of  Hanover, 
King  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  rightly 
so.  "  A  Prince,  whose  character  is  thus  marked 
by  every  act  which  may  define  a  Tyrant,  is  unfit 
to  be  the  ruler  of  a  free  People."  Thus  ran  the 
Declaration,  and  I  would  not  alter  a  word  of  it. 
I  am  not  in  the  least  disposed  to  defend  this  thick- 
skulled  King  whose  great-grandfather  England 
had  imported  from  Germany,  nor  those  dull  sub- 
jects of  his  who  never  could  understand  the  view- 
point of  their  brethren  over  the  sea.  The  Eng- 
land of  George  III  thoroughly  deserved  what  she 
got,  and  I  3'ield  to  no  man  in  honoring  the  men 
who  meted  out  the  well-earned  punishment  to  her. 
As  a  boy  I  reveled  in  the  slaughter  of  Red  Coats, 
and  I  have  never  repented  of  the  "  bluggy  "  joy. 
I  am  afraid  that  I  was  not  as  thankful  as  a  Chris- 
tian should  have  been  when  I  discovered  a  few 
days  ago  that  only  156  Red  Coats  were  killed 
and  326  wounded  in  the  Battle  of  Yorktown! 
But  it  is  only  fair  to  say  that  compared  with  his 
contemporary  Frederick  the  Great,  of  whom  the 
Prussians  are  very  proud,  George  III  was  an  ex- 
ceedingly mild-flavored  and  domesticated  sort  of 


THE  AMERICAN  SPIRIT  183 

a  tyrant.  Had  the  American  Colonists,  in  an  evil 
hour,  appealed  to  Frederick  for  help,  and  had 
he  responded  to  their  appeal  (for  other  than  al- 
truistic motives),  and  then  decided  to  stay  and 
rule  over  them,  as  he  certainly  would  have  done, 
the  Colonists  would  have  pined  for  the  good  old 
days  of  King  George  as  the  Israelites  pined  for 
the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt.  If  the  world  had  been 
searched  in  the  ^-ear  1776  for  the  ruler  least  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  American  Spirit  it  would  have  been 
difficult  to  find  one  who  would  have  met  the  require- 
ments more  perfectly  than  this  Frederick  of  the 
House  of  Hohenzollcrn  whose  ministers  were  mere 
clerks  to  give  effect  to  his  absolute  will,  and  whose 
political  theories  were  all  pinned  together  with 
swords  and  baj'onets. 

While  the  majority  of  insular  Englishmen  sup- 
ported King  George  in  his  overbearing  attitude 
toward  the  Colonies,  we  must  not  forget  that  Lon- 
don never  approved  of  it,  that  London  plead  for 
America,  and  that  Chatham  (called  "  that  trumpet 
of  sedition  "  by  the  King)  and  Fox  and  Burke  and 
Pitt  and  Shelburne  lifted  up  their  voices  in  favor 
of  the  Colonies,  and  finally  carried  the  British 
public  with  them;  nor  must  we  forget  that  it  is 
recorded  of  Washington,  in  England's  most  popu- 
lar history,  that  "  No  nobler  figure  ever  stood 
in  the  forefront  of  a  nation's  life,"  ^  and  that  alto- 
gether the  most  intelligent  and  most  popular  ap- 
preciation of  our  Country  ever  written  is  the  late 
1  Green's  History  of  the  English  People  Vol.  IV,  p.  254. 


184     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

Ambassador  Bryce's  "  American  Commonwealth." 
And  it  is  well  to  remind  ourselves  that  the  cause 
of  Independence  was  not  overwhelmingly  popular 
even  among  the  Colonists  themselves.  We  used 
to  be  taught  in  school  that  the  Spirit  of  '76  was 
so  permeating  and  contagious  that  practically 
everybody  in  America  caught  it.  We  know  now 
that  many  escaped  it,  and  that  the  struggle  for 
Independence  was  never  supported  by  anything 
like  all  of  the  Colonists,  and  for  a  good  part  of 
the  time  was  supported  by  perhaps  a  minority  of 
them. 

The  great  friends  of  the  American  Spirit  in 
early  days  were  the  French.  But  for  France  that 
Spirit  would  have  been  stamped  out,  and  the  cause 
of  liberty  in  the  world  set  back  a  hundred  years. 
The  debt  that  we  Americans,  and  all  true  lovers 
of  liberty,  owe  to  France  is  incalculable.  I  know 
that  mixed  motives  brought  France  to  America's 
help,  but  in  the  person  of  LaFayette  she  rose  to 
her  highest  and  came  to  us  in  our  dire  distress, 
and  dared  to  the  uttermost  in  our  behalf;  and 
from  the  day  of  his  coming  to  the  end  of  the  war 
America  never  looked  to  France  in  vain.  The 
debt  we  owe  France  has  never  been  paid.  The 
passing  of  LaFayette  and  the  rise  of  Napoleon 
is  partly  responsible  for  this.  But  now  that 
France  is  again  at  Freedom's  side,  if  in  some  hour 
of  crushing  disaster  she  turned  her  eyes  towards 
us  and  said,  "  Help  me,  or  I  perish,"  and  we 
turned  a  deaf  ear  to  her  —  supposing  her  cause 


THE  AMERICAN  SPIRIT  185 

to  be  just  —  I  would  be  ashamed  ever  again  to 
set  foot  on  French  soil.  It  is  devil's  doctrine,  no 
matter  what  pretentious  claims  to  culture  its 
preachers  may  make,  that  salvation  for  a  nation 
lies  in  taking  all  and  giving  nothing.  That  which 
is  damnation  for  the  individual  can  never  be  sal- 
vation for  the  State  in  a  moral  universe. 

But  what,  you  may  be  thinking,  of  the  German 
element  in  the  War  of  Independence?  Of  course, 
in  the  main,  it  was  very  strongly  against  America. 
Hardly  a  word  of  sympathy,  except  from  the  great 
Kant,  who  "  embraced  the  cause  of  the  American 
colonists  with  all  the  energy  of  his  vast  intellect," 
came  from  Germany.  Klopstock  and  Lessing  said 
a  few  favorable  things.  And  Steuben  and  De- 
Kalb,  of  honored  memory,  came  to  us,  not  because 
of  any  friendship  on  their  part  or  the  part  of 
their  countries  for  the  cause  of  Independence,  but 
through  the  persuasion  of  some  of  our  good  French 
friends.  But  they  came,  and  did  splendid  service, 
and  every  true  American  honors  their  names. 
Steuben  was  at  Yorktown  with  LaFayette  and 
Washington,  and  happened  to  be  in  command  when 
Cornwallis  decided  to  surrender.  DeKalb  was 
killed  at  Camden,  South  Carolina,  under  the  most 
heroic  circumstances.  No  doubt  some  of  the  Ger- 
man colonists  of  Pennsylvania  served  in  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  Continental  Army.  So  far  as  I 
know  none  distinguished  themselves.  John  Peter 
Gabriel  Muhlenberg,  Trappe,  Pa.,  became  a 
major-general  by  brevet.     His  father,  Henry  M., 


186      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

was  patriotic.  The  former  raised  the  8th  Va. 
(German)  regiment,  of  which  he  became  Colonel, 
at  Woodstock,  Va.  Greene,  in  "  The  German  Ele- 
ment in  the  War  of  Independence,"  does  not  speak 
of  them.  This  is  the  briglit  side  of  the  picture. 
The  dark  side  is  that  first  and  last  Germany  fur- 
nished about  thirty  thousand  mercenaries  to  en- 
able George  III  to  crush  the  American  Spirit. 
The  large  majority  of  these  German  mercenaries 
came  from  Hesse-Cassel  and  Hesse-Hanau,  but 
Brunswick,  Waldcck,  Anspach  and  Anhalt-Zerbst 
also  had  a  hand  in  this  shameful  business  of  fur- 
nishing hirelings  to  do  battle  against  the  Ameri- 
can Spirit. 

We  come  now  to  the  consideration  of  the  ques- 
tion, Just  what  is  the  significance  of  the  American 
Spirit?  Already  this  question  has  been  partly  an- 
swered. Indeed,  it  is  quite  impossible  to  speak  of 
this  Spirit  without  disclosing  somewhat  of  its 
meaning.  But  something  must  be  added  to  what 
has  been  said. 

In  his  book  on  "  The  Spirit  of  America,"  Dr. 
Henry  Van  Dyke,  a  real  American  of  Dutch  de- 
scent, now  ambassador  to  Holland,  says :  "  This 
republic  continues  to  exist  and  develop  along  the 
normal  lines  of  its  own  nature,  because  it  is  still 
animated  and  controlled  by  the  same  Spirit  of 
America  which  brought  it  into  being  to  embody 
the  soul  of  the  people."  He  then  goes  on  to  say : 
"  I  am  quite  sure  that  there  are  few,  even  among 
Americans,  who  appreciate  the  literal  truth  and 


THE  AMERICAN  SPIRIT  187 

the  full  meaning  of  this  last  statement.  It  is  com- 
mon to  assume  that  the  Spirit  of  1776  is  an  affair 
of  the  past ;  that  the  native  American  stock  is 
swallowed  up  and  lost  in  our  mixed  population ; 
and  that  the  new  United  States,  beginning,  let  us 
say,  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  is  now  controlled 
and  guided  by  forces  which  have  come  to  it  from 
without.  This  is  not  true  even  physically,  much 
less  is  it  true  intellectually  and  morally.  The 
blended  strains  of  blood  which  made  the  American 
people  in  the  beginning  are  still  the  dominant  fac- 
tors in  the  American  people  of  to-day.  .  .  .  The 
native  stock  has  led  and  still  leads  America."  ^ 
To  substantiate  this  statement  he  calls  attention 
to  the  fact  that  86  per  cent,  of  the  16,395  persons 
included  in  "  Who's  W^ho  in  America  "  are  native 
Americans,  and  that  of  the  men  elected  to  the 
presidency  of  the  United  States  there  has  been 
only  one  whose  ancestors  did  not  belong  to  Amer- 
ica before  the  Revolution  —  James  Buchanan,  a 
Scotch-Irishman,  whose  father  came  in  1783  — 
and  all  of  the  presidents  except  four  trace  their 
line  back  to  Americans  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
It  is  noteworthy  in  this  connection  that  all  of  our 
presidents  except  Van  Buren  and  Roosevelt  are  of 
English  descent,  and  the  same  would  seem  to  hold 
to  an  equal  degree  in  the  case  of  our  vice-presi- 
dents. 

What  Dr.  Van  Dyke  says  is  plainly  true,  and 

1  Ten  of  twenty-seven  presidents  have  come  from  Virginia 
and  Massachusetts. 


188     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

any  newcomers  who  act  upon  a  contrary  theory  are 
riding  to  an  unhappy  fall.  If  they  are  wise  in 
their  generation  they  will  not  attempt  to  remove 
the  ancient  landmarks  of  this  Nation,  or  drag 
its  anchors  to  other  moorings,  or  choke  the  well- 
springs  of  American  liberty,  or  obstruct  the  well- 
worn  channels  through  which  American  feeling 
flows.  That  were  to  woo  the  whirlwind  and  to 
court  the  lightning.  America  is  for  Americans  — 
real,  unqualified  Americans.^  The  Americans  who 
built  this  Nation  upon  ideals  of  their  own  choos- 
ing, and  who  from  the  beginning  have  rightly  domi- 
nated it,  and  rightly  dominate  it  now,  have  as  little 
intention  of  allowing  newcomers  to  substitute  for 
the  ancient  American  ideals  new  and  strange  ideals 
that  have  come  newly  up  as  they  had  of  permitting 
the  American  Union  to  be  rent  in  twain.  This 
ought  to  be  plain  enough  to  any  one  w^ho  knows 
even  a  little  of  the  history  of  the  English-speaking 
race  to  recall  even  a  quondam  Columbia  professor, 
or  a  recently  imported  Harvard  professor,  or  even 
a  German  professor  at  large,  from  the  error  of 
his  way.  Of  course,  this  is  not  a  pleasant  fact 
to  make  mention  of;  but  it  is  a  fact,  a  flint-like 
fact,  and  it  is  foolish  to  blink  it.     "  Lord  Bacon 

1  "  Citizens,  by  birth  or  choice,  of  a  common  coimtry,  that 
country  has  a  right  to  concentrate  your  aflFections." — Wash- 
ington —  Farewell  Address. 

The  Kaiser  is  reported  to  have  said  to  a  so-called  "  Ger- 
man-American " :  "I  know  what  a  German  is,  and  I  know 
what  an  American  is.  I  do  not  know  what  a  German- 
American  is." 


THE  AMERICAN  SPIRIT  189 

has  told  me  that  a  great  question  would  not  fail 
of  being  agitated  at  one  time  or  another,"  de- 
clared Chatham.  It  is  a  vital  American  fact,  and 
no  amount  of  bombast,  and  no  amount  of  bragga- 
docio, and  no  amount  of  bamboozling,  and  no 
amount  of  button-holing,  or  bartering,  or  bulldoz- 
ing, from  either  side  of  the  Atlantic,  from  court  or 
camp,  from  chamber  or  campus,  can  alter  this  un- 
compromising fact  whose  roots  are  buried  deep  in 
the  brains  and  hearts  of  those  who  speak,  because 
they  love  it  and  what  it  stands  for  best,  the  tongue 
of  Wyclif  and  Knox  and  More,  Shakespeare  and 
Milton,  Hampden  and  Eliot  and  Pym,  Blackstone 
and  Marshall,  and  Washington,  Jefferson,  Web- 
ster and  Lincoln. 

I  am  sorry  to  have  to  say  this.  But  the  bla- 
tancy  of  those  among  us  who  bear  the  name  of 
American  without  really  believing  in  the  vital  thing 
for  which  the  name  stands,  makes  it  impossible 
for  me  to  be  silent.  Let  those  whom  the  cap  fits 
put  it  on :  I  only  refer  to  those  of  whom  what  I  say 
is  really  true. 

For  what,  further,  does  the  American  Spirit 
stand.?  What  says  the  Declaration.?  Among 
other  things  it  speaks  of  "  a  decent  respect  to  the 
opinions  of  mankind."  It  speaks  of  this  Nation's 
right  to  a  "  separate  and  equal  station  "  in  the 
family  of  nations.  It  says  nothing  of  this  Na- 
tion's right  to  a  "  place  in  the  sun  " —  or  the  lime- 
light. The  American  Spirit  holds  no  commission 
from  God  to  spread  American  Ideals  in  either  hem- 


190     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

isphere  with  the  sword,  and  it  would  regard  as  an 
intolerable  nuisance  to  be  abated  any  nation  that 
claimed  such  a  commission  to  so  spread  its  ideals 
or  "  culture."  It  speaks  of  national  rectitude, 
and  a  people's  sacred  honor.  The  American 
Spirit  wastes  no  affection  on  the  ambitious  Bona- 
parte, but  it  abhors  the  inexcusable  treachery  he 
experienced  thrice  at  the  hands  of  those  who  called 
themselves  his  allies  and  went  forth  to  battle  with 
him ;  and  it  does  not  look  unmoved  upon  the  "  deep 
damnation "  of  Belgium's  "  taking  off."  The 
Declaration  speaks  with  indignation  of  those  who 
attempt  to  render  "  the  military  independent  of 
and  superior  to  the  Civil  Power,"  and  the  Amer- 
ican Spirit  recognizes,  neither  within  its  own  bor- 
ders nor  beyond  them,  the  brutal  doctrine  that 
Might  makes  Right. ^  It  dismisses  forever  from 
the  seat  of  its  affections  kings  and  emperors  and 
such.  It  puts  no  trust  in  princes  —  even  those 
"  O.  K'd  "  by  "  exchange  professors,"  and  it  is 
very  suspicious  of  any  man  calling  himself  an 
American  who  does,  especially  if  he  has  been  feed- 
ing upon  royal  dainties.  The  American  Constitu- 
tion begins,  "  We,  the  people,"  and  there  is  not  a 
more  glorious  phrase  in  the  literature  of  politics. 
The  American  Spirit  knows  that  it  will  be  the  be- 
ginning of  the  tragic  end  when  those  great  words, 
bought  at  a  great  price,  cease  to  mean  the  great 
thing  they  meant  to  the  founders  of  this  Nation. 

iThe   "Macht    Politik "    of   Treitschke,    the    Kaiser,    the 
Crown  Prince,  Bernhardi  et  al. 


THE  AMERICAN  SPIRIT  191 

I  must  now  hasten  to  a  close.  Need  I  stop  to 
answer  the  question,  Who  are  the  enemies,  and  who 
are  the  friends,  of  the  American  Spirit  to-day? 
Those  at  home  must  answer  for  themselves.  Some 
have  already  answered,  and  are  under  suspicion  — 
suspicion,  shall  I  say,  of  not  having  understood 
just  what  they  were  about  when  they  took  out 
their  papers?  Now  is  the  time  for  them  to  con- 
sider. I  trust  that  they  may  decide  to  become 
real  Americans  and  remain.  But  if  they  find  that 
they  really  prefer  the  government  of  an  "  irre- 
sponsible," irremovable  autocrat  to  the  govern- 
ment the  American  Spirit  is  endeavoring  to  work 
out,  we  shall  not  find  fault  with  them,  either  if 
they  fly  to  the  succor  of  the  would-be  Caesar,  or  if 
they  possess  their  souls  in  patience  while  among 
us  and  do  not  foolishly  try  to  interfere  with  the 
full  and  free  expression  or  working  of  the  Amer- 
ican Spirit. 

If  there  are  those  among  us  who  believe  in  the 
Kaiser  and  his  "  Welt  Politik,"  let  them  say  so. 
Let  them  disport  themselves.  Nobody  objects  to 
that.     This   is   no    Kaiser's   Land.^     This   is   the 

1  The  moment  the  present  war  began  79  German  Socialist 
papers  were  suppressed,  and  shortly  afterwards  the  one 
remaining  Socialist  paper  of  consequence  suffered  the  same 
fate. 

The  Kaiser  is  reported  to  have  said  not  long  ago  that  the 
best  course  for  Germans  to  pursue  who  did  not  approve  of 
his  way  of  doing  things  was  to  leave  Germany.  This 
would  be  in  line  with  German  policy  in  the  past.  A  great 
many  of  the  Germans  who  came  to  Texas,  among  other 
States,  were  political  refugees. 


192     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

People's  Land.  This  is  America.  This  is  a  free 
country,  one  of  whose  most  valued  assets  is  free- 
dom of  speech ;  and  I  go  farther  than  most  men  I 
meet  in  Newark,  or  New  York,  or  Paterson,  or 
elsewhere,  in  my  belief  in  that.  But  what  mature 
Americans  do  object  to  is  the  everlasting  and  bad- 
tempered  outcry  by  Americans  in  the  making 
against  the  utterances  by  the  American  press  and 
American  writers  and  speakers  of  sentiments  and 
convictions  that  it  would  be  passing  strange  for  an 
American  of  mature  mind  and  sound  heart  not  to 
hold. 

Let  us  take  a  hurried  look  abroad.  Is  Germany 
a  real  friend  of  the  American  Spirit  to-day?  If 
one  could  appeal  from  "  Philip  drunk  to  Philip 
sober,"  the  question  might  be  debatable.  There 
was  a  Germany,  not  drunk  with  ambition  or  panic- 
stricken  with  fear,  and  not  savage  with  hatred  of 
those  who  can  never  be  persuaded  to  hate,  for 
which  there  was  an  increasing  regard  in  America. 
But  that  Germany  is  now  as  though  it  were  not. 
And  that  the  dominating  power  in  Gei*many  that 
to-day  holds  the  great  body  of  the  German  people 
in  the  grasp  of  its  mailed  fist  is  not,  and  cannot 
be,  the  friend  of  the  American  Spirit,  admits  of 
no  debate.  These  things  are  contrary  the  one 
to  the  other.  The  spirit  of  the  German  War 
Party,  which  now  permeates  and  dominates  the 
whole  nation,  is  the  very  antithesis  of  the  Amer- 
ican Spirit,  both  in  its  contemplated  enslave- 
ment  of   the   German   people   under   the    Hohen- 


THE  AMERICAN  SPIRIT  193 

zollerns,  and  its  contemplated  enslavement  of 
the  world  under  the  nation  on  whose  neck  the 
heel  of  the  Hohenzollerns  rests.  The  present 
dominating  spirit  in  Germany  is  a  "  throw- 
back "  in  civilization  of  more  than  a  hundred 
years. ^ 

Is  England  a  real  friend  of  the  American 
Spirit?  Now  that  she  has  learned  the  lesson  she 
needed  to  be  taught  at  the  hands  of  her  over-sea 
children,  I  believe  with  all  my  heart  she  is.  We 
are  about  to  celebrate  a  hundred  years  of  peace 
between  England  and  America.  The  progress  in 
the  cause  of  freedom  made  in  England  during  these 
years  has  been  immense.  There  is  great  reason 
to  believe  that  freedom  has  as  little  to  fear  from 
England  as  from  any  nation.  Indeed,  the  down- 
fall of  England  at  this  hour  would  be  as  great 
a  loss  as  the  cause  of  freedom  could  sustain.  The 
integrity  of  England  is  essential  to  America. 
Were  her  integrity  threatened,  the  tide  of  feeling 
among  us  would  rise  so  high  and  run  so  swift  and 
strong  that  the  bark  that  bears  our  governmental 
neutrality  would  be  swept  out  to  sea  and  sunk  and 
once  again  it  would  be  found  that  blood  is  thicker 
than  water. 

iSee  "Germany  and  the  Next  War,"  by  F.  von  Bern- 
hardi;  also  article  on  "  Treitschke "  in  Encyclopedia  Bri- 
tannica;  also  articles  on  Germany  and  the  Kaiser  in  same; 
also  "Germany  and  England,"  by  J.  O.  Cramb;  and  "Pan- 
Germanism,"  by  Roland  G.  Usher.  See  also  files  of  N.  Y. 
Times  and  Outlook,  especially  latter  for  Oct.  21,  article 
"  Germania,  1914." 


194     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

What  of  the  future  of  the  American  Spirit?  I 
believe  it  is  safe  —  but  not  so  safe  that  those  who 
love  it,  and  would  not  willingly  live  in  a  world 
from  which  it  was  banished,  can  afford  to  go  to 
sleep.  Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  the  things 
for  which  that  Spirit  stands.  Even  at  home,  there 
are  those  who  as  yet  know  little  of  the  value  of 
these  precious  things.  Abroad,  many  of  our  dear- 
est dreams  and  hopes  for  a  great  family  of  nations 
in  which  Mercy  and  Truth  shall  meet  together,  and 
Righteousness  and  Peace  shall  kiss  each  other, 
and  of  which  the  Prince  of  Peace  shall  not  be 
ashamed,  are  made  light  of  if  not  set  at  naught. 

What  is  our  duty.?  Circumstances  must  decide. 
If  this  war  should  go  the  way  the  overwhelming 
majority  of  Americans  trust  it  will  not  go,  all 
that  the  American  Spirit  holds  dear  would  be 
threatened. 

The  Prince  of  Peace  said  upon  a  memorable  oc- 
casion :  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world :  if 
my  kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would  my 
servants  fight."  The  Prince  of  Peace  knows  that 
the  Republic  of  the  American  Spirit,  out  of  which 
He  has  never  been  asked  to  depart,  and  in  whose 
counsels  His  voice  carries  increasing  weight,  is  of 
this  world.     Need  I  say  more.? 


IX 

CRUaFIED  BELGIUM 

An  address  delivered  November  11th,  1915,  be- 
fore the  British  and  American  Association,  New- 
ark, New  Jersey. 


IX 

CRUCIFIED  BELGIUM 

"Omnium    fortissimi   sunt   Belgae." — Julius    C.^sar 

The  distinctive  history  of  France  begins  with 
Clovis,  King  of  the  Franks.  An  interesting  story 
has  come  down  to  us  from  the  fifth  century  con- 
nected with  his  name. 

The  story  takes  on  additional  interest  just  at 
this  time.  For  Clovis  was  associated  with  cer- 
tain places  that  have  become  familiar  haunts  of 
our  minds  during  the  past  sixteen  months.  He 
was  also  connected  with  certain  historic  events 
that  are  at  least  suggestive  of  history  now  in  the 
making.  Before  Clovis  established  himself  in 
Paris  his  capital  was  Tournay,  Belgium.  Re- 
migius,  Bishop  of  Rheims,  sometimes  called  Saint 
Remi,  was  his  friend  and  counselor.  A  notable 
act  of  wise  friendship  performed  by  the  Bishop 
for  the  King  was  the  choosing  of  the  wife  who  so 
greatly  influenced  his  life. 

It  is  said  that  in  a  battle  fought  against  the 
Alemanni  near  Cologne  in  the  effort  to  drive  these 
Teutonic  invaders  back  across  the  Rhine,  Clovis 
and  his  Franks  were  so  hard  pressed  by  the  enemy 
that  he  appealed  to  the  God  of  his  Christian 
197 


198      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

wife  Clotilda,  promising  that  if  victory  were 
granted  to  his  army  both  himself  and  his  soldiers 
would  worship  Clotilda's  God.  The  Alemanni 
were  routed.  True  to  his  word,  Clovis  and  a  large 
number  of  his  Franks  were  baptized  by  the  Bishop 
of  Rheims  on  Christmas  Day,  496. 

So  much  for  the  setting  of  the  story.  The 
story  is  that  this  stalwart  warrior  of  the  early 
days,  who  shook  off  the  yoke  of  the  degenerate 
Romans,  and  who  put  the  Teutons  back  across 
the  Rhine,  where  they  belonged,  and  who  later  de- 
feated Alaric  II  and  his  Visigoths  in  the  battle  of 
Poitiers, —  slaying  Alaric,  it  is  said,  with  his  own 
hand, —  upon  hearing  the  account  of  the  Cruci- 
fixion the  first  time,  cried  out  with  fierce  indigna- 
tion :  "  Had  I  and  my  Franks  been  by,  we  would 
have  avenged  the  wrong,  I  warrant !  " 

There  is  another  stor^^  bearing  a  close  resem- 
blance to  this  one,  that  has  come  down  to  us  from 
the  sixteenth  century.  It  is  linked  with  the  name 
of  the  French  soldier  Crillon,  styled  by  Henry  IV 
"  The  Bravest  of  the  Brave."  He  served  at  the 
siege  of  Calais  in  1558  and  in  many  other  impor- 
tant battles.  When  Crillon  first  heard  the  story 
of  the  Crucifixion  read  at  church  he  grew  more 
and  more  excited  as  the  reading  proceeded.  At 
last  he  burst  out :  "  What  were  you  about, 
Crillon,  to  permit  such  atrocity  ?  " 

The  crime  of  crimes  in  the  dark  records  of  our 
race  on  this  earth,  the  deed  of  perfect  blackness 
that  thrusts   up   this  world  high  in  horror  and 


CRUCIFIED  BELGIUM  199 

makes  it  notorious  in  sin  among  God's  other  worlds, 
is  the  Crucifixion. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  one  to  be  a  theologian,  or 
even  to  be  much  interested  in  theology,  to  have  a 
deep  and  abiding  sense  of  the  divine  light  that  came 
into  tliis  world  through  the  life  of  the  Crucified 
One;  or  to  appreciate  the  fact  that  the  Cross  is 
the  instrument  by  which,  and  Calvary  is  the  place 
where,  our  race  made  its  most  desperate  and  most 
diabolical  effort  to  extinguish  the  light  divine  that 
shines  in  the  human  heart. 

Neither  Clovis  nor  Crillon  was  a  theologian,  nor 
was  either  even  much  interested  in  theology.  The 
feeling  of  abhorrence  that  sprang  into  their  hearts 
when  they  heard  the  story  of  the  Crucifixion  was 
in  no  sense  due  to  their  ecclesiastical  training. 
They  had  no  ecclesiastical  training.  They  were 
field-bred,  not  church-bred  men.  Their  abhor- 
rence sprang  from  natural  unspoiled  human  in- 
stincts. They  knew  instinctively,  as  the  world 
knows,  that  those  who  were  responsible  for  the 
hounding  and  the  harrying,  the  insulting  and  the 
baiting,  and  the  deliberately  planned  and  executed 
murder  under  color  of  law,  of  Jesus  Christ,  were 
not  the  friends,  but  the  enemies,  of  goodness  both 
human  and  divine,  and  that  their  action  was  in- 
spired from  below,  not  from  above.  They  knew 
instinctively  that  those  who  put  the  Prophet  of 
Nazareth  out  of  the  way  preferred  darkness  to 
light,  and  did  so  because  their  deeds  and  their 
motives  were  evil.     They  knew  instinctively  that 


200      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

it  happened  to  Him  according  to  the  proverb: 
"  He  that  is  upright  in  the  way  is  abomination  to 
the  wicked." 

And,  indeed,  that  was  the  greatest  offence  of 
Jesus :  That  He  stood  upright  in  the  way :  That 
He  stood  right  up  to  His  full  height  right  in  the 
•way,  right  in  the  gap,  through  which  Guilty  De- 
sire meant  at  whatever  cost  to  reach  the  throat 
of  its  victims  as  quickly  as  possible. 

That  is  to  say,  the  Founder  of  Christianity  was 
crucified  in  the  first  century  for  reasons  that 
would  be  considered  sufficient  in  some,  perhaps 
many,  parts  of  Christendom  to  justify  His  cru- 
cifixion in  the  twentieth  century. 

Given  the  Uncompromising  Christ  —  and  there 
is  no  other  genuine  Christ  —  it  would  not  be  diffi- 
cult to  stage  the  Crucifixion  to-day.  And  it  would 
not  be  necessary  to  go  outside  of  Christendom,  it 
would  not  be  even  necessary  to  go  outside  the 
Christian  Church,  for  the  living  characters  for 
the  performance,  with  one  or  possibly  two  notable 
exceptions. 

Strong  as  this  statement  is,  it  is  warranted  by 
the  history  that  has  been  made  in  the  past  six- 
teen months,  and  that  is  even  now  being  made. 

Only  yesterday  a  shameful  chapter  of  cowardly 
brutality  was  added.  The  name  of  Edith  Cavell 
appeared  at  the  head  of  it.  Then  there  is  that 
almost  unreadable  chapter,  that  almost  unbeliev- 
able chapter,  the  Lusitania  chapter,  in  the  horrible 


CRUCIFIED  BELGIUM  201 

light  of  which  the  Massacre  of  the  Innocents  sinks 
into  insignificance.  That  chapter  was  not  added 
yesterday !  I  blush  with  unspeakable  shame  when 
I  recall  what  ancient  history  this  incident  has  be- 
come, for  the  record  of  it  is  written  in  American 
blood  that  an  American  president  sold  for  a  diplo- 
matic song  and  quickly  forgot,  and  —  oh  the 
gnawing  bitterness  of  it !  —  succeeded  in  making 
most  of  his  countr3^men  forget. 

I  said  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  stage  the 
Crucifixion  to-day.  My  chief  reason  for  saying 
so  is  that  a  crucifixion  on  a  colossal  scale,  the 
crucifixion  of  a  whole  people,  is  taking  place  at 
this  very  moment.  The  instigator  of  this  black 
crime  calls  himself  a  Christian,  and  professes 
loudly  to  go  about  his  bad  business  under  the 
full  conviction  that  God  is  with  him  in  all  his 
ways.  And  gathered  about  this  crucifier  there  is 
an  imposing  array  of  Christian  ecclesiastics  who 
delight  to  do  him  honor,  and  place  a  written  sanc- 
tion upon  all  his  doings.  This  crucifixion  differs 
in  some  important  respects  from  the  Crucifixion, 
but  is  not  unworthy  to  be  compared  with  it. 

It  is  written  that  the  Crucified  One  said  to  two 
of  His  disciples  upon  a  certain  occasion :  "  Ye 
shall  indeed  drink  of  my  cup,  and  be  baptized 
with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with."  And 
we  know  that  His  baptism  was  a  baptism  of  fire, 
and  His  cup  a  cup  of  blood. 

It  is   written   that  upon   another  occasion   the 


20£     PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

Crucified  One  said  to  His  disciples :  "  If  any  man 
will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take 
up  his  cross,  and  follow  me." 

It  is  a  part  of  the  glorious  record  of  our  race 
that  individual  men  and  women,  and  sometimes 
large  groups  of  men  and  women,  have  essayed  to 
drink  of  that  Cup,  and  to  be  baptized  with  that 
Baptism,  and  to  take  up  the  Cross.  And  we 
have  become  somewhat  accustomed  to  this  noble 
action  on  the  part  of  individuals,  and  to  a  less 
degree,  to  such  action  on  the  part  of  groups  of 
men  and  women.  But  the  world  is  not  accustomed 
to  such  heroic  action  on  the  part  of  a  whole  peo- 
ple. It  has  remained  for  the  twentieth  century 
to  witness  this  unique  and  wondrous  sight. 

Of  making  many  books  on  the  subject  of  the 
European  War  there  is  no  end.  Already  the 
proverb  is  applicable  that  one  can  hardly  see  the 
tree  for  the  leaves.  But  out  of  these  many  books 
I  venture  to  speak  of  one  that  has  peculiar  claims 
to  the  attention  of  the  world.  The  author  of  this 
book  is  Dr.  Charles  Sarolea,  a  distinguished  Bel- 
gian scholar,  for  some  years  head  of  the  depart- 
ment of  Romance  languages  in  Edinburgh  Uni- 
versity and  Belgian  consul  in  Edinburgh,  and 
more  recently  war  correspondent  of  The  London 
Daily  Chronicle  in  Belgium. 

The  spirit  of  this  little  book  is  wonderful.  The 
spirit  that  inspired  the  author  of  this  book  and 
that  breathes  through  its  pages  may  without  ex- 


CRUCIFIED  BELGIUM  203 

aggeration  be  likened  to  the  spirit  that  inspired 
the  evangelists.  Indeed  this  book  is  a  sort  of 
evangel.  It  is  a  gospel  —  it  brings  good  tidings 
to  the  human  spirit. 

"  How  Belgium  Saved  Europe "  is  the  name 
given  to  this  noble  little  book.  Nowhere  in  the 
volume  does  the  author  use  the  quotation,  "  He 
saved  others ;  himself  he  can  not  save,"  but  no 
thoughtful  person  whose  heart  has  not  been  hard- 
ened against  Belgium  by  some  such  unholy  hatred 
as  the  imps  of  Satan  must  have  borne  to  the  cher- 
ubim with  flaming  swords  who  were  placed  at  the 
east  of  the  garden  of  Eden  to  keep  the  way  of 
the  tree  of  life  can  read  that  beautiful,  brave,  and 
yet  heart-breaking  little  book  without  having  that 
quotation  come  into  his  mind  and  linger  there. 

In  the  first  chapter  of  this  book,  the  caption 
of  which  is  "  The  Moral  Significance  of  the  Bel- 
gian Campaign,"  the  author  says :  "  I  must  have 
made  it  abundantly  plain  that  no  mere  motives 
of  enlightened  national  interest  or  even  of  worldly 
honor  could  account  for  the  desperate  struggle 
which  the  Belgian  people  waged  against  Germany. 
In  order  to  understand  the  dogged  resistance  of 
the  Belgians,  we  must  appeal  to  the  deepest  in- 
stincts of  man,  to  the  elemental  impulses  of  lib- 
erty. And  perhaps  still  more  must  we  appeal 
to  the  higher  motives  of  outraged  justice,  to  the 
moral  consciousness  of  right  and  wrong.  Until 
we  take  in  the  fact  that  from  the  beginning  the 
struggle  was  lifted   to   a  higher  plane,  we   shall 


204<      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

fail  to  understand  the  true  significance  of  the 
war.  From  the  beginning  the  war  was  to  the  Bel- 
gian people  much  more  than  a  national  war;  it 
became  a  Holy  War.  And  the  expression  '  Holy  ' 
War  must  be  understood  not  as  a  merely  literary 
phrase,  but  in  its  literal  and  exact  definition.  The 
Belgian  War  was  a  Crusade  of  Civilization  against 
Barbarism,  of  eternal  right  against  brute  force." 

"  So  true  is  this,"  the  author  goes  on,  "  that  in 
order  adequately  and  clearly  to  realize  the  Bel- 
gian attitude,  we  are  compelled  to  illustrate  our 
meaning  by  adducing  one  of  the  most  mysterious 
conceptions  of  our  Christian  religion,  the  notion 
of  vicarious  suffering.  In  theological  language 
Belgium  suffered  vicariously  for  the  sake  of  Eu- 
rope. She  bore  the  brunt  of  the  struggle.  She 
was  left  over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  invaders. 
She  allowed  herself  to  become  a  battlefield  in 
order  that  France  might  be  -free  from  becoming 
a  shambles.  She  had  to  have  her  beautiful  capi- 
tal violated  in  order  that  the  French  capital  might 
remain  inviolate.  She  had  to  submit  to  vandalism 
in  order  that  humanity  elsewhere  might  be  vindi- 
cated. She  had  to  lose  her  soul  " —  no,  not  her 
sovl!  her  "  life  "  the  author  should  have  said  — 
"  in  order  to  save  the  soul  of  Europe." 

He  continues :  "  The  general  spirit  in  which  the 
war  was  waged,  the  almost  mystical  temper  which 
inspired  the  Belgian  people,  was  strikingly  illus- 
trated at  the  crisis  of  Liege.  Things  were  looking 
desperate.     It  was  obvious  that  unless  relief  came 


CRUCIFIED  BELGIUM  205 

at  once  to  the  besieged,  the  fortresses  could  hold 
out  no  longer.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  equally 
obvious  that  if  the  relief  did  come  Brussels  would 
be  saved  from  the  indignity  of  German  occupa- 
tion. But  the  French  and  British  relief  did  not 
come.  Yet  the  Belgians  did  not  complain.  They 
were  not  only  disinterested,  they  were  not  only 
heroic,  they  were  calmly  resigned.  They  were  in- 
deed martyrs  in  the  Greek  sense  of  the  word. 
They  were  witnesses  for  the  European  cause." 

The  whole  of  this  passage  that  I  have  taken  from 
Dr.  Sarolea's  book  is  apropos  of  my  theme,  but 
to  me  the  most  interesting  part  of  the  quotation 
is  that  in  which  he  speaks  of  "  Belgium  suffering 
vicariously  for  the  sake  of  Europe."  The  thought 
in  the  author's  mind  is,  "  She  saved  others ;  her- 
self she  can  not  save."  He  does  not  use  the 
words,  but  he  brings  them  forcibly  into  the  sym- 
pathetic reader's  mind.  As  one  reads  this  Bel- 
gian's story  of  "  How  Belgium  Saved  Europe," 
one  feels  sure  that  he  wrote  with  the  vision  of 
Crucified  Belgium  before  his  eyes,  and  that  he  was 
saying  over  and  over  again  to  himself  in  the  depths 
of  his  heart,  "  They  crucified  her !  They  cruci- 
fied her!  " 

The  statement  in  this  book  that  Belgium  suf- 
fered vicariously  for  the  sake  of  Europe  inter- 
ested me  especially  because  /  had  often  thought 
and  spoken  in  public  of  Belgium  as  having  been 
crucified  by  Germany  upon  the  German  Iron  Cross 
for  a  reason  strikingly  like  one  of  the  great  rea- 


206      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

sons  that  brought  the  Perfect  Victim  to  the  Cross 
nineteen  centuries  ago,  to-wit,  that  little  Belgium, 
under  a  high  sense  of  duty,  stood  right  up  to  her 
full  height  right  in  the  way,  right  in  the  gap, 
through  which  Germany,  drumk  with  her  guilty 
dreams  of  world-power,  meant,  at  whatever  cost,  to 
reach  the  throat  of  the  first  of  its  European  victims 
as  quickly  as  possible. 

"  He  that  is  upright  in  the  way  is  abomination 
to  the  wicked,"  says  the  proverb.  It  was  so  in 
the  year  33  a.  d.,  when  the  devil-inspired  cry  was 
raised  in  Jerusalem  "  Away  with  this  Man !  Cru- 
cify Him,  crucify  Him !  "  And  it  was  so  in  the 
year  1914  a.  d,  when  the  devil-inspired  cry  was 
raised  in  Berlin,  "  Direkt  nach  Paris!  " 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  note,  in  passing,  that 
this  same  thought  of  the  vicarious  suffering  of 
Belgium  finds  expression  through  the  pen  of  the 
English  writer  Chesterton.  In  a  recent  article  on 
"  Lest  We  Forget  Belgium,"  he  says :  "  This 
people  we  have  heard  of  daily  have  endured  this 
unheard-of  thing,  and  endured  it  for  us  ...  In 
this  respect  Belgium  stands  alone  .  .  .  There  has 
been  self-sacrifice  everywhere  else ;  but  it  was  self- 
sacrifice  of  individuals,  each  for  his  own  country ; 
the  Servian  dying  for  Servia,  or  the  Italian  for 
Italy.  But  the  Belgian  did  not  merely  die  for 
Belgium,  Belgium  died  for  Europe.  Not  only  was 
the  soldier  sacrificed  for  the  nation;  the  nation 
was  sacrificed  for  mankind.      It  is  a  sacrifice  which 


CRUCIFIED  BELGIUM  207 

is,  I  think,  quite  unique  among  Christians ;  and 
quite  inconceivable  among  pagans." 

Before  I  proceed,  let  me  say  that  I  fully  under- 
stand just  how  unpleasant  and  unwelcome  to  a 
world  that  has  been  so  busy  building  greater 
barns  in  which  to  bestow  its  goods,  and  which  was 
laying  the  flattering  unction  to  its  soul  that  it 
was  a  pretty  good  sort  of  a  world,  and  that  it 
had  many  goods  laid  up  for  many  years,  and 
which  is  impatient  to  eat  and  to  drink  and  to 
be  merry  and  to  wallow  in  the  mire  of  filthy  lucre, 
is  this  thought  of  the  vicarious  suff^ering  of  Bel- 
gium that  calls  up  before  the  mind's  eye  the  awful 
vision  of  a  Crucified  Nation.  I  can  readily  under- 
stand how  this  awful  vision  is  almost  as  unwel- 
come to  the  world  as  was  the  ghost  of  the  mur- 
dered Banquo  to  Macbeth  when  it  entered  the 
banquet  hall,  glided  to  his  place,  and  shook  its  gory 
locks  at  the  royal  murderer. 

Nevertheless  the  thought  that  gives  rise  to  this 
awful  vision  has  been  born  to  perish  never.  It  will 
not  down.  It  can  not  be  downed.  Already  it 
haunts  a  hundred,  a  thousand,  a  hundred  thou- 
sand human  minds,  with  a  moral  insistence  not 
to  be  denied.  The  clever  eff^orts  of  those  who 
hold  the  reins  of  government  in  this  land  and 
other  lands,  based  upon  mixed  motives  that  seem 
good  to  their  self-regarding  minds,  may  succeed 
for  a  time  in  drawing  a  thick  veil  between  this 
awful  vision   and   the  eyes   of  those  who  though 


208      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

they  may  be  duped  by  the  devil  when  he  disguises 
himself  as  an  angel  of  light  yet  hate  him  with 
strong  hatred  once  they  see  him  face  to  face  or 
recognize  him  in  his  works ;  but  this  sorry  sort  of 
success  will  not  last  for  long  in  a  world  in  which, 
however  often  the  powers  of  darkness  may  triumph 
in  the  skirmishes,  the  great  battles  that  ultimately 
decide  the  contest  are  won  for  God  and  His  Right- 
eousness. 

The  mind  may  be  diverted  from  this  thought 
for  a  day,  or  a  month,  or  a  year,  by  this  or  that 
hush-up  policy,  this  or  that  crab  or  crawfish  or 
cuttlefish  policy,  this  or  that  ostrich-like  policy, 
this  or  that  midnight-burial  policy,  this  or  that 
Pilate-like  policy  that  foolishl}-^  looks  to  a  little 
water  to  cleanse  a  conscience  that  has  shirked  a 
God-imposed  responsibility, —  by  such  miserable 
machinations  the  mind  may  be  diverted, —  but  by 
a  power  beyond  its  control,  or  any  man's  control, 
the  human  mind  will  revert  to  the  thought,  and 
again  and  again,  with  ever  increasing  might,  hu- 
mane hearts  will  be  haunted  by  the  awful  vision  of 
Crucified  Belgium. 

Indeed,  could  the  moral  sense  of  the  world  be 
tolled  into  some  cave  and  lulled  to  sleep  and  kept 
asleep  as  long  as  the  Seven  Sleepers  of  Ephesus, 
when  it  awoke  and  left  its  cave  it  would  come 
back  to  this  awful  vision  with  the  dreadful  feel- 
ing with  which  the  debauchee  with  returning  con- 
sciousness comes  back  to  face  the  tragic  facts  that 
have  not  been  changed  otherwise  than  to  become 


CRUCIFIED  BELGIUM  209 

more    imperious   by   his   slumberous   drunkenness. 

Henceforth  the  world,  unless  it  retrogrades 
morally  —  unless  it  slumps  into  a  moral  morass 
kept  dank  and  fetid  by  vapors  of  hell  —  will  find 
it  as  impossible  to  escape  from  the  vision  of  Cru- 
cified Belgium  as  the  Psalmist  —  who  cried, 
"  Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  spirit,  or  whither 
shall  I  flee  from  thy  presence?  If  I  ascend  up 
into  heaven,  thou  art  there:  if  I  make  my  bed  in 
hell,  behold,  thou  art  there  " —  found  it  impossible 
to  escape  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord. 

When  I  first  ventured  to  speak  of  the  cruci- 
fixion of  Belgium,  I  took  care  to  say  that  this 
crucifixion  of  a  whole  people,  though  not  unworthy 
to  be  compared  with  the  Crucifixion,  differed  in 
some  important  respects  from  that  Perfect  Crime. 
That  might  well  go  without  saying,  and  yet  it 
seems  best  to  say  it,  and  to  make  it  clear  just 
what  I  have  in  mind. 

In  the  case  of  the  Crucifixion  the  perfection  of 
the  crime  rests  in  some  large  measure  upon  the 
fact  that  the  Crucified  One  was  a  Perfect  Victim. 
Quite  apart  from  His  claims  to  the  highest  possible 
relationship  with  God,  it  is  the  moral  judgment  of 
mankind  that  in  the  Crucifixion  of  Jesus  Christ 
the  powers  of  darkness  laid  violent  hands  upon 
and  did  to  death  a  Perfect  Victim. 

I  do  not  myself  think  Jesus  Christ  was  crucified 
because  He  was  perfect.  As  I  have  said,  I  think 
He  was  crucified  because  He  stood  up  to  His  full 
height  in  the  way,  in  the  gap,  against  the  powers 


210      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

of  darkness  and  absolutely  refused  to  budge  an 
inch  or  a  hair's  breadth.  It  is  my  profound  con- 
viction that  He  was  put  out  of  the  way  for  the 
simple  reason  that  He  was  in  the  way  of  the  forces 
of  iniquity. 

Jesus  Christ  was  put  out  of  the  way  because 
He  stood  four-square  against  the  forces  of  iniquity 
—  sixt}'  seconds  a  minute,  siity  minutes  an  hour, 
twent^'-four  hours  a  day,  seven  days  a  week,  fifty- 
two  weeks  a  year.  Other  reasons  there  may  have 
been,  but  that  was  the  predominating  reason.  The 
motives  that  moved  men  nineteen  hundred  years 
ago  are,  in  the  main,  the  motives  that  move  men 
to-day. 

Now,  in  the  case  of  the  crucifixion  of  Belgium 
the  victim  is  not  a  perfect  victim.  That  ought 
to  go  without  saying.  No  one  would  for  a  mo- 
ment think  of  making  the  claim  of  perfectness  for 
a  whole  people  —  the  Belgian  or  any  other  —  that 
one  is  ready  to  make  for  the  Crucified  One.  Cer- 
tainly Belgium  makes  no  such  claim  for  herself; 
and  no  Belgian  thinks  of  making  such  a  claim; 
nor  does  any  friend  of  Belgium.  That  Belgium 
has  sinned,  as  other  nations  have  sinned,  Belgium 
knows  and,  through  the  lips  of  some  of  her  noblest 
sons,  freely  confesses.  Cardinal  Mercier  has  wit- 
nessed to  the  truth,  not  only  about  his  people,  but 
to  his  people.  His  tongue  is  a  two-edged  sword. 
Perhaps  never  did  her  sins  stand  out  more  clearly 
before  her  eyes,  or  the  burden  of  them  seem  more 
intolerable  than  now. 


CRUCIFIED  BELGIUM  211 

But  in  that  the  Belgium  people  have  sinned, 
and  sinned  grievously,  they  have  not  shown  them- 
selves different  or  removed  themselves  far  from 
other  people.  Rather  have  they  thereby  shown 
themselves  like  and  drawn  themselves  near  the 
other  peoples  of  the  earth. 

America  can  match  sins  with  Belgium  any  day. 

There  is  no  Belgian  red  that  can  not  be  matched 
with  an  American  red. 

There  is  no  Belgian  black  that  can  not  be 
matched  with  an  American  black. 

And  what  is  true  of  America  is  equally  true  of 
the  other  nations  of  Christendom. 

There  are  those  who  are  tempted  to  judge  na- 
tions solely  by  their  lowest  types  and  their  lowest 
moods.  But  that  will  not  do.  So  judged  every 
nation  would,  when  weighed  in  the  balances,  be 
found  wanting  and  worthy  of  condign  punish- 
ment. 

The  highest  types  and  the  highest  moods  of  a 
nation  must  also  be  taken  into  account  and  given 
very  large  consideration. 

If  this  is  done  in  the  case  of  Belgium  —  if  due 
weight  is  given  to  the  life  of  her  heroic  King  and 
to  the  lives  of  those  valiant  men  who  have  served 
under  him,  and  to  the  Belgian  mood  of  mind  and 
heart  these  past  sixteen  gruelling  months,  more 
especially  that  of  her  great-hearted  Cardinal  —  I 
know  of  no  nation,  my  own  or  any  other,  that 
ranks  higher  to-day. 

Indeed,  at  this  moment  of  history  —  smothered 


212      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

by  smooth  words  as  has  been  the  spirit  that  once 
made  us  great  —  America  is  not  worthy  to  un- 
loose the  latchet  of  Belgium's  ragged,  blood- 
soaked  shoe ! 

But,  let  me  say  again,  I  have  had  no  thought 
of  even  suggesting  that  in  the  case  of  the  cruci- 
fixion of  Belgium  the  powers  of  darkness  found  a 
perfect  victim.  So  far  as  the  fact  of  her  cruci- 
fixion goes,  given  the  heroic  mood  of  mind  and 
heart  in  which  Germany  found  Belgium  August  a 
year  ago  when,  flinging  her  own  honor  to  the  four 
winds,  she  demanded  of  her  little  neighbor  that  she 
make  abject  surrender  of  her  birthright  as  a  na- 
tion of  honor  —  given  this  —  Belgium's  state  of 
grace  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  case.  No  degree 
of  national  perfection  could  have  saved  her  from 
crucifixion. 

Was  it  not,  indeed,  just  because  Belgium  met 
the  dishonorable  demand  suddenly  made  upon  her 
with  a  look  that  bore  marked  resemblance  to  the 
look  that  came  into  the  eyes  of  Jesus  when  He  set 
His  face  to  go  to  Jerusalem  that  the  furnace  of 
affliction  was  heated  for  her  seven  times  more  than 
the  god  of  War  is  wont  to  heat  it? 

Perfection  could  only  have  heightened  her  glory 
upon  the  cross  to  which  she  was  nailed  by  fiendish 
hands. 

Great  as  that  glory  is  —  and  it  is  very,  very 
great ;  for  much  of  her  dross  has  been  refined  into 
pure  gold  in  the  fire  of  pain ;  and  much  of  her 
sin  has  been  washed  away  in  heroic  blood ;  —  that 


CRUCIFIED  BELGIUM  213 

it  might  have  been  greater  the  greater  souls  in 
Belgium  know  full  well.  And  in  this  heavy  hour 
in  which  Belgium  hangs  upon  the  cross,  their  su- 
preme regret  is,  "  It  might  have  been !  " 

Time  forbids  the  recital  of  the  details  of  the 
insolent  demand  made  by  her  big  and  brutal  neigh- 
bor upon  Belgium  to  get  out  of  the  way  in  which 
Almighty  God  had  placed  her  for  just  such  an 
hour  as  struck  Sunday  night,  August  2nd,  1914; 
or  the  noble  answer  Belgium  gave,  first  by  word 
of  mouth,  and  then  by  the  blood  of  her  sons  poured 
out  like  water. 

But  surely  it  is  not  necessary  to  narrate  Bel- 
gium's history  since  that  bloody  Sunday  night. 
The  world  knows  it  by  heart.  Americans  of  the 
better  sort  know  it  better  far  than  the  ignoble 
history  made  by  their  own  country  during  this 
period  of  unprecedented  presidential  hysteria. 
And  the  world  knows  that  no  nation  ever  made 
so  much  noble  history  in  so  short  a  time  as  Bel- 
gium has  done. 

The  names  of  Liege,  of  Albert,  of  Mercier,  are 
henceforth  synonyms  of  unselfish  heroism  in  the 
highest. 

The  world  knows  the  incalculable  debt  France 
owes,  and  Great  Britain  owes,  to  Belgium. 

And  the  better  part  of  the  world  knows  —  in- 
deed all  the  world  except  that  poor  part  of  it 
that  dwells  in  the  thick  darkness  where  might 
seems  to  make  right,  and  where  magnificence  in 
sin  seems  to  set  the  seal  of  approval  upon  sin  — 


214      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

knows  that  Belgium  not  only  saved  France,  and 
saved  Great  Britain,  but  that  Belgium  saved 
Europe ! 

And  if  Belgium  saved  Europe,  then  Belgium 
saved  America  and  the  world ! 

Today,  no  doubt,  the  world  sees  this  truth  as 
it  were  in  a  glass  darkly.  But  the  day  is  not 
far  distant  when  the  world  will  know  this  truth 
as  truth  is  known  when  it  is  seen  face  to  face  by 
gentlemen  unafraid.  Then  the  heart  of  the  world 
will  be  pierced  through  and  through  as  with  a 
sword.  And  out  of  the  heart  of  the  world  which 
will  then  know  to  the  full  its  own  bitterness  as  it 
realized  the  meaning  of  Belgium's  self-sacrifice 
will  come  the  agonizing  cry,  "  She  saved  others ; 
herself  she  could  not  save !  " 

"  Without  their  aid,"  wrote  Sir  Oliver  Lodge 
in  his  tribute  to  the  Belgians,  "  the  face  of  Europe 
would  have  been  changed  past  redemption,  and 
the  Earth  might  have  been  subject  to  a  brutal 
and  intolerable  dominance." 

There  is  no  room  to  doubt  it. 

A  Prussianized  world  would  be  a  lost  world. 

Prussian  Kultur  means  Human  Perdition. 

A  Kaiserized  world  w^ould  be  an  accursed  world. 

A  Hohenzollernized  world  would  be  a  political 
hell  on  earth  —  save  to  those,  perhaps,  who  are 
content  "  to  fiddle  and  be  slaves,"  as  the  German 
historian  Gervinus  said  was  the  case  with  his 
people  in  their  attitude  towards  their  own  rulers, 
and,  I  add,  to  the  professional  pacifist.     In  such 


CRUCIFIED  BELGIUM  215 

a  world  every  true  liberty-loving  soul  would  pant 
even  for  Hell  as  the  hart  panteth  for  the  water- 
brook.  And  the  Devil,  seeing  the  diabolical  glory 
of  his  ancient  throne  grow  dim,  would  abandon  it 
in  disgust  to  become  a  goose-stepping  doorkeeper 
of  hell-scuttling  Potsdam. 

Yes,  in  a  real  sense,  Belgium  is  the  savior-nation 
of  the  modem  world. 

Before  closing,  let  me  recall  to  your  minds  what 
it  was  Clovis  and  Crillon  said  when  they  first  heard 
the  story  of  the  Crucifixion.  "  Had  I  and  my 
Franks  been  by,"  cried  Clovis,  "  we  would  have 
avenged  the  wrong,  I  warrant."  And  the  French 
soldier,  forgetting  for  the  moment  the  gulf  of 
time  that  lay  between  himself  and  the  Crucifixion, 
cried  out,  "  What  were  you  about,  Crillon,  to 
permit  such  atrocity?  " 

One  sometimes  wonders  what  he  would  have  done 
had  he  been  in  Jerusalem  the  day  —  Der  Tag  — 
the  powers  of  darkness  did  their  desperate  worst 
to  make  an  end  of  the  Uncompromising  Christ.  It 
would  indeed  be  surpassingly  interesting  to  know 
just  where  one  would  have  stood  that  day.  And 
it  would  also  be  of  great  interest  to  know  what  at- 
titude one's  own  nation,  as  represented  by  those 
who  were  in  a  position  to  speak  and  act  for  it, 
would  have  taken  towards  the  crucifiers. 

Well,  perhaps  the  events  of  the  past  sixteen 
months  have  done  more  to  throw  light  upon  that 
ethical  question  than  all  that  has  happened  since 
the  crowning  shame  of  the  human  race  was  un- 


216      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

covered  to  the  view  of  God  and  His  other  worlds 
on  the  hill-top  called  Calvary. 

In  our  own  time  another  crucifixion,  on  a  colos- 
sal scale,  the  details  of  which  are  more  horrible 
and  more  shameful  to  humanity  than  those  that 
accompanied  the  Crucifixion  of  the  Perfect  Vic- 
tim, has  taken  place.  The  predominant  reason 
for  this  twentieth  century  crucifixion  is  the  same, 
mutatis  mutandis,  as  the  reason  for  the  Crucifixion 
of  the  first  century.  The  victim  was  in  the  way 
of  the  crucifiers.  The  victim,  under  an  overwhelm- 
ing sense  of  duty  to  God  and  mankind,  stood  glo- 
riously in  the  gap  against  Guilty  Desire. 

This  twentieth  century  crucifixion  did  not  take 
place  in  a  corner.  It  took  place  before  the 
amazed  eyes  of  the  whole  dazed  world.  And  what 
is  more,  it  has  been  brought  home  to  the  doors  of 
every  nation  in  Christendom,  in  a  manner  more 
delicate  than  that  adopted  by  the  Levite  whose 
concubine  was  violated  and  murdered  in  the  days 
of  the  Judges  of  Israel,  but  in  a  manner  not  less 
difficult  to  ignore,  and  accompanied  by  a  like  in- 
vitation to  "  consider  of  it,  take  advice,  and  speak 
your  minds." 

Throughout  the  world  men  and  nations  have 
considered  this  matter,  this  infamous  matter,  this 
crime,  this  bloody,  brutal  worse  than  barbaric 
crime,  have  taken  advice,  and  have  spoken  their 
minds,  either  by  word  or  deed.  Most  of  us  know 
where  we  stand.  And  we  know  where  the  nations 
of  the  earth  stand,  and  how  they  stand. 


CRUCIFIED  BELGIUM  217 

To  me  —  I  speak  it  out  of  an  aching  heart  that 
has  beaten  in  utter  loyalty  for  well-nigh  half  a 
century  —  it  is  a  burning  and  humiliating  and 
will  be  an  everlasting  shame,  that,  brought  face 
to  face  with  the  moral  crisis  produced  by  this  de- 
liberately planned  national  crucifixion,  my  Coun- 
try, in  her  official  capacity,  failed  miserably  to 
meet  it.  She  became  hysterical.  She  stammered 
and  stuttered  and  talked  foolishly,  childishly,  baby- 
ishly.  The  Spirit  of  America  was  stampeded. 
Whether  or  not  America  dared,  America  did  not 
speak  her  mind !     Nor  has  she  spoken  it  yet ! 

Privately  —  by  night  as  it  were  —  individual 
Americans  have  done  some  things  that  have  been 
called  generous  by  generous-minded  souls  across 
the  Atlantic.  And  these  private  deeds  have  been 
a  feeble  expression  of  a  sympathy  with  Belgium 
that  a  real  American  naturally  feels  deep  down 
in  his  heart  and  finds  it  difficult  to  suppress.  But 
I  find  it  impossible  to  draw  consolation,  much  less 
take  pride,  in  these  little  deeds  of  personal  kind- 
ness. Indeed,  in  the  face  of  our  awful  national 
failure,  our  Great  American  Refusal,  I  am  almost 
ashamed  to  speak  of  that  which  called  for  charity 
only  and  left  courage  out  of  account. 

One  of  Raemaekers'  cartoons  represents  a 
sleek,  pot-bellied  man  of  the  bourgeois  type,  well 
satisfied  with  himself,  and  therefore  respectable, 
dressed  in  the  height  of  fashion,  cane  in  hand,  his 
eyes  directed  upwards  as  if  he  were  expecting 
bounties  from  heaven.     Behind  this  person,  who 


218      PATRIOTISM  AND  RADICALISM 

is  Mynheer  Pieterse,  is  to  be  seen  an  Apache,  hold- 
ing in  his  hand  a  knife  that  drips  with  blood  —  the 
blood  of  a  woman  lying  murdered  and  denuded 
on  the  street.  Under  this  bloody  satire  one  may 
read  the  thoughts  of  Mynheer  Pieterse,  as  inter- 
preted by  the  artist :  "  The  fellow  has  only 
robbed  and  murdered  his  neighbor.  Shall  I  call 
him  a  bandit.?  No  —  I'll  greet  him  politely. 
That's  more  neutral." 

"  And  when  He  was  come  near.  He  beheld  the 
city,  and  wept  over  it,  saying.  If  thou  hadst  known, 
even  thou,  at  least  in  this  thy  day,  the  things  which 
belong  unto  thy  peace!  but  now  they  are  hid  from 
thine  eyes." 


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